Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 26 May 1999

Vol. 505 No. 4

Declaration under Article 29.7 of the Constitution (Extension of Time) Bill, 1999: Committee and Remaining Stages.

SECTION 1.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, line 14, to delete "of 24 months" and substitute "up to and including the 30th day of June, 1999".

I have already covered the arguments for the proposal in my contribution on Second Stage, so I will quickly revisit some of the details. I noted with concern the Taoiseach's concluding remarks on Second Stage regarding the 30 June deadline. I hope an interpretation is not put on his references to being sensible and his remarks about what might happen after 30 June, that there was not a resolve on the part of the Irish and British Governments to insist on 30 June as the deadline they have declared. There has been tremendous frustration and anger in many quarters at the failure so far to implement the Agreement as agreed between both Governments and all parties on Good Friday last year and since endorsed by the overwhelming mass of the electorate, both North and South.

There was a requirement to establish the shadow Executive in July last year. The North-South Ministerial Council was to have met and completed its work by the end of October last year. The d'Hondt mechanism was to have been triggered by 10 March this year and then 29 March and 2 April this year, Good Friday, became more missed deadlines. It has clearly been the case in the past that, when people are focused on set deadlines and not on distant and imprecise ones, they apply themselves to the work in hand, endeavour to meet the deadline and reach the type of agreement required to achieve the necessary solutions.

I am concerned the signal given by the Bill and the Taoiseach's earlier commentary is that 30 June is not the definitive deadline the two Governments indicated it is. It is important for all parties to the ongoing search for a break in the impasse that 30 June is clearly and emphatically stated for what it already has been declared, namely a deadline and an absolute requirement for the triggering of d'Hondt, the setting up of the Executive and the movement towards the establishment the North-South Ministerial Council and implementation bodies.

That is critical and that is why I tabled the amendment to delete the words "of 24 months" and substitute them with the words "up to and including the 30th day of June, 1999". To do otherwise is to invite further procrastination, delaying and obstructionism which have amounted to the tactics of the Ulster Unionist Party over many months past. A mistake is being made and one which will certainly be grasped by those who wish to see this process run into the ground. For those who take that view, there is already in the establishment of the Assembly in the North all they would have wished for, and now all that is needed is for the more difficult elements which must be faced to be set aside or binned. That is completely unacceptable.

The amendment is reasonable, rational and deserves the support of the Government. It should adopt it and I ask that it be supported. In the event it is not to be supported, I will not oppose the Bill as initiated. However, I urge in the spirit of what I have said earlier on Second Stage and what I say now that people recognise the seriousness of the moment and importance of the opportunity and agree the amendment.

Mr. Quinn

The Labour Party will not support Deputy Ó Caoláin's amendment for three reasons. He attempts to compare the deadline with others which have been set and missed, but none of those were set in legislative format. They were operational, aspirational, declared and agreed upon but did not have the force of a legislative proposal behind them. That is why it would be a mistake to confuse those deadlines which were sadly not met – I share the Deputy's frustration and sense of disappointment – with a legislative one.

We also oppose the amendment because the logistics of setting the date to 30 June makes it very tight. We know from previous practice that certain deadlines have been met or progress has been made two or three days after the date set. We could find ourselves in a situation where, at the height of sensitive negotiations trying to achieve a compromise, the time towards the deadline would be ticking away and the Dáil would have to be reconvened to extend it by a certain amount of time.

A final reason given by Taoiseach and of which I was not aware is that the commencement of devolution in Scotland and Wales has a symmetry about it which makes sense from a British perspective. That is something I can see as being of importance in an apparently arbitrary date of 30 June.

Deputy Ó Caoláin said the amendment was both reasonable and rational. Sinn Féin's interpretation of the Agreement and its implementation, especially regarding the impasse over decommissioning, is certainly rational but is not reasonable. It is rational for Sinn Féin to argue that decommissioning is not a precondition for the setting up of the Executive. That is clear and we have stated it repeatedly. However, it is reasonable, as Deputy Flanagan stated, for the Unionist community, particularly the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party, and other communities in Northern Ireland and the Republic to see some indication of movement.

The Agreement did not stipulate a fixed timetable for the release of prisoners or the commencement of a number of the operational commitments it contains. In that context, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform referred to the legislation and his schedule of announcements in respect of the commission and the Irish citizenship and nationality legislation. There was no fixed timetable governing those matters but movement of a reasonable kind has been made.

I listened with interest to the contribution of the Deputy representing Sinn Féin in this House. He stated quite clearly that Sinn Féin cannot deliver on this issue but that it retains significant representation and influence within and links to the army council of the IRA. I refer to that organisation as the IRA, not the "republican movement" because as far as I am concerned that movement includes the Labour Party and every party. There is no royalist or monarchist party in this House. In my opinion, some indication of genuine movement is a reasonable expectation on the part of the 95 per cent of the people who voted in favour of the Agreement just over a year ago.

I do not recall if the Taoiseach replied to the question I posed on Second Stage about the status of the Dermot Nesbitt interview and whether there has been some movement by the Official Unionist Party or the Ulster Unionist Party on this issue. Does that interview represent a breakthrough which might be considered constructive?

The Taoiseach

I made a number of comments in replying to Second Stage which Deputy Ó Caoláin may have missed. We are focused on a much shorter timescale and I would like to reach an agreement before 30 June because to do so would have much merit.

To repeat what I said on Second Stage, the promised extension is not an indication of the failure of the Agreement – the possibility of needing it was part of the Agreement – nor is it to be taken as a signal that the Government believes 12 months will be needed to overcome current difficulties. On the contrary, our efforts are focused on a much shorter timeframe. The extension is rather a way to facilitate further dialogue with all parties to reach an all-inclusive settlement in Northern Ireland and put an end, once and for all, to the violence and political instability with which we have lived for so long. As Deputies will know, the deadline of 30 June has been set for devolution of power to the Northern Ireland Assembly and we are working to achieve this.

All parties are being asked to go as far as they can and then a little further to reach agreement. For the Agreement to work, it is critically important that they have the backing of their constituents in Northern Ireland. I am heartened by the genuine efforts being made to achieve this, but further strenuous efforts need to be made. In presenting this legislation to provide for an additional timeframe of 12 months, the Government is ensuring there will not be legal impediments to bringing the Agreement into force as soon as the current intensive efforts are successful.

It is important to understand the Bill will not delay for 12 months the entry into force of the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 and the addition of the new paragraph 8 to Article 29. The Bill proposes an extension of time within which the Government can make the declaration envisaged in Article 29.7.3. Once the basis was established for making the declaration through the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement, the Government would be obliged under the Agreement to make the declaration without delay and the relevant amendments to the Constitution would then enter into force forthwith. Therefore, we are not looking at a full year for the making of the declaration.

As Deputy Quinn stated, it is important that we continue to try to reach agreement as soon as possible. However, I do not want to enter a situation where the Dáil would go into recess before agreement is reached because nothing would happen for three months and difficulties would arise later. It is our firm belief that we should reach agreement on or before 30 June.

In terms of the deadlines, Deputy Ó Caoláin was correct about the matters to which he referred and particularly about the fact that difficulties have been caused by delays on the part of the UUP. In the interests of fairness and consistency to people, particularly those in Northern Ireland, who have studied these debates, on the Wednesday of Holy Week this year we hoped that if Sinn Féin had been in a position to sign up we could have reached agreement by the Holy Thursday deadline. We attempted to do so and I did not mind missing another night's sleep. We remained at the negotiations overnight waiting for Sinn Féin to make a decision but, unfortunately, for reasons I understand, it was not in a position to do so. Consequently, that deadline was missed. We must recognise that everyone has difficulties and problems.

The 30 June deadline is different in that it is a firm deadline set down by the British Prime Minister. Deputy Quinn made a good point when he stated that the original 10 April agreement was really concluded on 8 April but that negotiations had continued until 10 April. We will do everything in our power to meet the deadline and I assure Deputy Ó Caoláin that neither I nor Prime Minister Blair have a desire to go one hour over it. If we can reach an agreement beforehand, we will do so. There is no reason for people to believe otherwise. Prime Minister Blair has already stated, in respect of the Assembly and other matters, that everything could fall if the 30 June deadline is not met. However, rather than deciding what will happen on that date we should try to be positive and find a settlement.

Deputy Quinn asked for an assessment of the Dermot Nesbitt interview. Yesterday, the UUP issued a statement which set down its position and then Dermot Nesbitt made a number of additional comments. Sinn Féin also issued a statement last night. We are rapidly running out of time in terms of making as much progress in the next few days as we had hoped. However, I believe that Dermot Nesbitt is trying to signal some direction where we can continue to work constructively, which is what we must do.

The statement issued by the UUP was more hardline than Mr. Nesbitt's so I do not know exactly what signals he is trying to give. However, we remain in contact with the parties. I spoke to Reg Empey and to Gerry Adams in the past 48 hours. I also had discussions with British and NIO officials to see what might be achieved in the coming days. We will continue to have such discussions, otherwise we will not make progress before the forthcoming elections.

I acknowledge that during the past two weeks, particularly since the meeting ten days ago, Gerry Adams and David Trimble have made extraordinary efforts to try to find a resolution. As stated yesterday, it is doubtful whether one can be found in the coming days. I would assess Dermot Nesbitt's comments as trying to provide us with constructive assistance in that regard.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I welcome the Taoiseach's confirmation of the continuing efforts of my party colleagues within the leadership of Sinn Féin. In relation to the situation vis-à-vis Holy Thursday, the party I represent has no mandate to rewrite the decisions reached on Good Friday 1998 and I would argue that the other parties and the Governments have no right to do so either. That is my clear reading and understanding of the Hillsborough Declaration to which the Taoiseach has just referred.

I welcome Deputy Quinn's recognition of the rationale behind what I have already outlined. However, if he has failed to accept the reasonableness of the Sinn Féin position, I urge him to at least recognise the reality of the situation faced by my party.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Acting Chairman (Mr. Kirk)

As it is now 1.30 p.m., I am required to put the following question in accordance with an order of the Dáil of this day:

That sections 1 and 2 and the Title are hereby agreed to in Committee and the Bill is reported to the House without amendment; that Fourth Stage is hereby completed and the Bill is hereby passed.

Question put and agreed to.

Sitting suspended at 1.30 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.