Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 February 2013
20. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will outline the progress that he has made with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive regarding the urgent need to deal with recent sectarian violence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8915/13]
View answerSince the outbreak of street violence in early December, I have had frequent contact, both with the British Government and with party leaders. My most recent meeting with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers MP was here in Dublin on Monday 11 February. We agreed to continue working together to support the parties in Northern Ireland in addressing both the underlying and immediate causes of the deplorable violence seen in recent months on the streets of Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland.
While the situation has been calmer in recent weeks, we remain fully engaged as Governments in our support of the work of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and are united in our view, in the context of forthcoming parades, that the Parades Commission’s determinations must be respected. Dialogue between parade participants and resident communities continues to be the most effective way to prevent outbreaks of violence.
On 17 January 2013, together with the Secretary of State and her colleague Minister of State Mike Penning MP, I met with First Minister Peter Robinson MLA and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MLA.
At that meeting, we reviewed the situation following the recent flags controversy across the three dimensions of public order, political leadership and rebuilding Northern Ireland’s reputation. We emphasised the need for protests to stop as well as our support for the PSNI who have been at the frontline in dealing with the violent incidents unfortunately associated with some of the protests. The Secretary of State and I encouraged the First Minister and deputy First Minister to work with other Party Leaders in Northern Ireland to move on from the current controversy towards building a shared, cohesive and integrated society. We also offered to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the good work done by the Executive and others on attracting inward investment and tourists to Northern Ireland is not put at risk.
The persistence of sectarianism in Northern Ireland, with the absence of political agreement on how to make progress towards a truly reconciled society, contributes to the likelihood of incidents such as those we have witnessed in recent weeks. This crisis will not be resolved other than by a cross-party, cross-community response. In my view therefore, there is no substitute for the party leaders agreeing on a framework for talks to address the issues that have arisen in relation to flags and symbols. These are political issues that require a political solution. The sooner the framework is agreed the better. In the meantime, there has been very welcome progress in securing practical support for ongoing programmes to address sectarianism in Northern Ireland, in particular the agreement on a new EU Peace Programme (PEACE IV) with funding of €150m secured.
Looking forward, the focus of political leadership in Northern Ireland should be on maintaining and creating jobs through economic recovery, in which inward investment and tourism play such a crucial role. The Government are ready to support the Executive and political leadership in Northern Ireland in whatever way we can.
