Tomorrow I will lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas copies of the commencement orders for the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999, and the British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act, 1999; the notifications exchanged between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland confirming that each Government has completed the requirements under Article 4 of the British-Irish Agreement for entry into force of the Agreement and, by the exchange of notifications, bringing the Agreement into force; and the declaration by the Government under Article 29.7.3º of the Constitution that the State has become obliged to give effect to the amendment of the Constitution by substituting new texts for Articles 2 and 3 as approved by the people in a referendum on 22 May 1998.
Everyone in the House and every person is entitled to feel a great sense of pride today in what we have been able to achieve together to bring about peace in Northern Ireland. The coming into force of the Good Friday Agreement, which was given such strong support 18 months ago by the people of Ireland, North and South, is a source of great satisfaction to us all. The peace process, which began more than ten years ago, is now reaching its climax. With the full political settlement now about to be implemented, we have the strongest possible basis for permanent peace in the country such as has never before been experienced in our history.
The peace process, although it has been slowed down at times, has been enormously successful because it has the momentum of the people behind it. Yesterday the President in Office of the European Council, Prime Minister Lipponen of Finland, conveyed his congratulations in person. All Europe wants peace in Northern Ireland to succeed. President Clinton, whom I met at the OSCE conference in Istanbul two weeks ago, has expressed his delight with the progress that has now been made. Irish people around the world, knowing how difficult it has been to resolve the conflict and seeing the problems that other peace processes have had to confront, will share in our pride and satisfaction.
The Government has been closely involved in every stage of the process. As Taoiseach, I pay tribute to my predecessors for their contribution to the development of the peace process, Deputies John Bruton and Albert Reynolds, and also Mr. Charles Haughey. I also thank the current Opposition leaders, including Deputy Quinn, for their steady, although not unquestioning, support. Throughout the recent review, I remained in close contact with party leaders as well as the British Government. Some of our senior officials, whom I thank warmly for their dedication, were constantly on hand in Stormont to assist the chairman and the parties, whenever required.
Our great thanks go to former Senator George Mitchell, who over the past five years has given so much of his time to the Northern Ireland peace process. Without his role at so many different crucial stages it is doubtful that we could have reached where we are today. I thanked President Clinton very warmly for allowing us to avail of George Mitchell's services and for his own strong support and commitment shown by many interventions over the past seven years. Yesterday, I conveyed my thanks to the Finnish Prime Minister for the contribution of his predecessor Harri Holkerri. I also had the opportunity to thank, in Istanbul, the Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien for the equally important contribution of General de Chastelain. He still has a central role in overseeing the implementation of the decommissioning process, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement. Great credit belongs in the final review phase to the parties themselves, who resolved their differences in direct dialogue and negotiation with each other, with the help and support of Senator Mitchell and the two Governments. Some of the issues were very difficult ones for all sides but, at length, sufficient trust and confidence was established to enable them to agree on a basis on which to proceed, through a sequence of steps that did not do any violence to the spirit of their respective political commitments or of the Agreement which they had signed.
Direct rule, described by at least one Secretary of State as quasi-colonial, will end tonight. For the first time in 25 years, as part of a set of institutions that reflect the totality of relationships, we have a democratically elected devolved Govern ment in Northern Ireland. This time, however, it is on a fully inclusive basis, something that has not happened before. Not every party took part in all stages of negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, but all the eligible parties are present in the new Administration from the DUP through to Sinn Féin.
I congratulate the new First Minister David Trimble, the new Deputy First Minister Séamus Mallon and all their colleagues on their appointment. We wish them the very best in their new responsibilities, and we look forward to working with the Ministers concerned in the North-South Ministerial Council.
Everyone involved has had to take their courage in both hands. The First Minister, David Trimble, faced a difficult and unenviable party situation, but with great skill he has secured majority support for this huge step forward. John Hume, Séamus Mallon and their colleagues in the SDLP can claim that the Good Friday Agreement embodies, above all, their vision for more than 25 years. In embracing the peace process and in trying to bring fully into the democratic arena movements that operated at least in part outside it, they took enormous political and personal risks.
John Hume recently received the Légion d'Honneur from the French Government, to add to the Nobel Prize for peace which he shared with David Trimble. It was in recognition of John Hume's unfailing democratic commitment, and those who strongly criticised or doubted him in the past should acknowledge his honourable contribution today.
Though some Deputies may find it strange to hear me saying it, I am glad the DUP have taken up their positions in the Executive, and it was a very human sight to see the new DUP Ministers being congratulated by their families and friends. Far be it from me to suggest a theme for a sermon to the leader who visited me in Government Buildings as head of the Free Presbyterian Church in Ulster a few weeks ago, but when we listen at Christmas to the prophet who foresees that "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb" and that "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain", we will surely think of Northern Ireland.
At this juncture, it is right for me to say that I understand and appreciate the distance that Sinn Féin and the Republican movement have been prepared to travel, the bridges they have crossed. All of the larger parties in this House emerged at one time or another from a revolutionary past. That is also in its own way true of those who follow in the tradition of Carson and Craig. Regardless of strong conflicting views and convictions about the struggles of the past, we must all look to the future. Here in this State we have successfully built on and sustained a constitutional Republican tradition for more than 70 years. A parallel task has already been engaging for some time past the Sinn Féin party that, along with the SDLP, has its own distinctive and constructive contribution to make to that tradition.
Great courage and vision has been shown by Sinn Féin and the republican movement as a whole, in embracing the Good Friday Agreement as the way forward and as the best alternative to conflict. Full and complete implementation of the Agreement is now under way. Devolution will be a reality tomorrow. Decommissioning has been acknowledged to be essential. It has been left to the last. Implementing this part of the Agreement cannot reasonably be interpreted by anyone as a verdict on the conflict of the last 30 years or as changing its outcome. As I have said, everyone will already have their own strongly held opinions on the Troubles that are unlikely to change. Decommissioning is a necessary contribution to the consolidation of peace and democracy and to the creation of trust. It will provide the conditions that will lead to a genuine all-round demilitarisation of Northern Ireland. It should also be clearly understood that just as decommissioning is a voluntary act so also is a willingness by any party to serve with others in Government. The work of General de Chastelain and the independent Commission remains central to resolving the whole problem satisfactorily. The de Chastelain Commission should now be allowed to get on with its work. That is why it was established, and that is what we should give it the space to do.
If there are still sinister forces waiting tactically for the most propitious moment to try to destroy by their actions the working of the Good Friday Peace Agreement, let me issue a warning. This Government and this House, representing the Irish people, will not tolerate any paramilitary attack by dissident organisations. We are determined that they will, for all practical purposes, be dissolved and disarmed, if they will not do that voluntarily themselves. There is no vestige of an excuse today for any organisation that would call itself Republican to repudiate or deny the living democracy that now exists in Ireland both North and South.