Nora Owen
Ceist:1 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on his visit to the United States during the week of 15 November 1993, and on his discussions while there on Northern Ireland.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Visit to United States.
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:11 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent visit to the United States; the political figures he met; and the matters discussed.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 11 together.
In the course of my visit I met President Clinton, Secretary of State Christopher and senior administration officials. I also met Speaker Foley, Senate Majority Leader Mitchell, Senator Kennedy, Senator Moynihan, Senator Leahy and other leading members of Congress. On 16 November I met with the Friends of Ireland group in Congress and on 17 November with the House Foreign Affairs Committee. During my visit I also availed of the opportunity to brief a range of media representatives in Washington.
I achieved two principal objectives during my visit to the United States. First, I explained to President Clinton and all others whom I met the Government's policy in relation to Northern Ireland, in particular the priority we are attaching to the urgent pursuit by the Irish and British Governments of a framework which could deliver peace, stability and reconciliation. I found the President to be both very well informed and supportive of our efforts. I expressed the Government's deep appreciation for his consistent interest and concern and his readiness to contribute to the search for peace and for a lasting settlement of the problem. We agreed that the two Governments will maintain close contact in this regard.
Second, I outlined to Secretary of State Christopher the Government's views on a range of other matters such as GATT, taxation issues and visas, both in relation to the 1994 World Cup and more generally. I discussed with him a number of foreign policy issues such as former Yugoslavia, Somalia, EC-US relations, UN reform and peacekeeping.
My discussions with Speaker Foley, Senator Mitchell and other members of Congress related primarily to Northern Ireland. I briefed the congressional leaders in detail on the Government's policy and expressed our appreciation for their continuing support and interest. I also expressed the appreciation of the Irish Government and people for the very generous United States contribution to the International Fund for Ireland.
I completed my visit with an address on the subject of Northern Ireland to the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University in Washington.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Will he outline a little more clearly the nature of the assistance offered by President Clinton in reply to the Minister's report on the six principles and his proposals for the North? Did President Clinton raise with the Minister his suggestion of a peace envoy to Northern Ireland? Has the Minister any deadlines or have they gone in the same way as have the Taoiseach's deadlines?
The Irish Government values the support and concern of the United States administration in assisting us to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland. I took the opportunity to brief President Clinton and the other members of the US administration with whom I met on the present position in terms of Anglo-Irish relations and the policy being pursued by the Government. President Clinton was extremely well informed, including having at his disposal details of the statement made by the British Prime Minister on the previous evening. The President reiterated the support of the United States administration for the efforts of both Governments to resolve the conflict.
The question of the envoy was discussed in the course of my meetings in the United States, although not with President Clinton, and the position is as has been enunciated in this House on a number of occasions. It was raised between the Taoiseach and the President earlier this year. From the outset we have welcomed President Clinton's readiness to consider a more active role for the US in relation to Northern Ireland if that is opportune and desirable, and this has been reiterated on many occasions. We will pursue our efforts to establish peace and resume dialogue and in those circumstances the question of deciding on an envoy is not relevant.
Did the Minister give President Clinton any information that this House does not have on the details of the Hume-Adams discussions and the contents of that document? The Minister, in his speech to the John Hopkins University, said "We are open——"
Quotations at Question Time are not in order.
Will the Minister explain why he used words such as "We are open to asking our electorate to change aspects as part of an overall package" as opposed to saying "We will ask our electorate"? Are these words used because there is still a division between the two partners in Government in relation to Articles 2 and 3?
There is absolutely no division between the Government parties——
Is the Minister sure of that?
——in terms of trying to find a solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland. If there were any differences in emphasis or otherwise we should make every effort to overcome those because of the seriousness of the conflict. In that respect both the Taoiseach and myself, since forming the partnership Government, have made every effort to work together solidly and persistently to see if we can bring about a solution to this problem. As I said from day one in this House and as the Taoiseach has said on many occasions, that is a priority for the Government, as it has been for many Governments in the past. In that respect I hope we can make progress. There are some signs that progress is possible at this stage and we are all very concerned that the existing opportunity should not be missed. We will persist in a unified manner on behalf of the people with the programme we have outlined. My discussions with President Clinton were primarily to update him on what is happening and to inform the US administration of the possibilities that exist for making progress in resolving the conflict.
May I ask——
Please, Deputy Owen. The Chair has regard to the need to dispose of the five questions before us and I cannot devote an undue amount of time to any one question.
I wish to ask one brief question to which the Minister can answer yes or no. The Minister will be aware that more than 400 jobs in Neodata were lost while he was in America. Did he take the opportunity while there to contact the headquarters of that company in Colorado about the job losses?
The Deputy is now injecting new matter into this question.
I asked about the Minister's visit to the United States and whether he visited Colorado?
I share the concern of all Members of this House about job losses in any part of the country. I took the opportunity from Washington to make contact with the chief executive officer of Neodata.