Gay Mitchell
Ceist:1 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the status of the Northern Ireland peace process. [8399/00]
Ceisteanna–Questions. Priority Questions. - Northern Ireland Issues.
As Deputies will be aware, the Government has been actively engaged in consultations with the British Government and with the relevant parties aimed at securing the earliest possible restoration of the Executive and of the Assembly. These efforts are continuing and will be intensified in the coming period.
The Taoiseach is meeting with the British Prime Minister at the European Council in Lisbon today, and on Tuesday the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I met with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In these meetings, we have been able to build on the contacts we have had, both before and during the St. Patrick's Day period in Washington, including the meetings the Minister, the Secretary of State and I had with all of the parties in Belfast on 7 and 8 March. This has allowed us to take stock of the current situation and to assess how best to move matters forward now.
Our discussions have, I believe, identified some common ground; everybody wants to see all the aspects of the Good Friday Agreement implemented in full. Nobody wants to renegotiate the Agreement. Everybody wants to see the institutions, which made a significant difference during the short period of their operation, up and running again as soon as possible. We are looking for a basis on which this can be achieved.
Once again, however, we will have to overcome a deficit of trust on all sides if we are to be successful. We need to create a positive dynamic in which all sides provide and receive necessary assurances, including that violence is not an option and that democratic inclusivity is the only way forward. As both the Taoiseach and the Minister have stated, we need to place the issues we have been discussing in a wider context of trust and confidence building.
The challenge before us is substantial. However, we have overcome difficulties in the past and I am convinced we can do so again now. We could never have come so far had the parties, and perhaps most especially their leaders, not been willing to demonstrate courage, flexibility and generosity. The same qualities are called for now.
For our part, the Government will continue to do all it can to create the right environment for progress but others must be prepared to do likewise. Work must be done to address fears and insecurities on all sides. Constituencies on both sides will have to be stretched. However, as we approach its second anniversary, I know that the parties, like the people, North and South, remain committed to the Agreement and all it has to offer. I remain confident that, with the right approach, it will be implemented in full.
Does the Minister of State agree that the twin principles of self-determination and consent informed the approach to the Good Friday Agreement and that the Irish people, for the first time since December 1918, determined for themselves that they wanted the Agreement implemented, including the principle of consent, by voting overwhelmingly for it? Will she confirm, therefore, that decommissioning is a condition, if not a precondition, of the Agreement and will she inform the House where the Government now stands on this agreed decommissioning?
I wish to confirm, on behalf of the Government, that decommissioning is an indispensable element of the Good Friday Agreement; indeed, I do not believe we would have had any Agreement unless that particular aspect of illegal weapons was addressed, as it was in some detail. We want to see the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. I believe that the decommissioning aspect will be achieved in the context of the overall implementation of all aspects of the Agreement. The issue of arms must be dealt with in that context.
It is important at this stage that all parties pro vide each other with the assurances necessary to secure progress, namely, assurances that we are all committed to an inclusive approach and convincing and credible assurances that violence is a thing of the past. In our work with the British Government and the parties concerned, we have focused on broadening the context in which that trust and confidence can be built.
Will the Minister of State confirm that the Government values the pluralist approach of parties in this House to the Northern Ireland peace process over and above the pan-nationalist approach adopted by a handful of self appointed so-called soldiers?
Since this Government took office, it has greatly appreciated and continues to appreciate the cross-party support for our efforts to resolve our recurring difficulties. It is well known that particular difficulties are being experienced at the moment in view of the suspension of the institutions and in the absence of sufficient progress on decommissioning. We want to get the institutions up and running again as soon as possible.
From our contact with the parties, there is evidence of an all round commitment, particularly from the protagonists, to the early restoration of the institutions and the full implementation of the Agreement. There is now an even more keen awareness, acknowledgment and understanding that it will not be possible to progress from the current difficulties unless there is a collective willingness to adopt a new approach to the achievement of the common goal of the full implementation of the Agreement. Over the past few weeks, we have tried to create space for people to rebuild trust and we will continue to do that over the coming weeks. We cannot simply continue to have a process which stops and starts with trust being built up and subsequently undermined. I thank the Deputy for his understanding of the current difficulties.