Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

It is important that is clarified. Will the Taoiseach accept there is no middle ground between those who seek to hollow out and cut away the critical elements of the Good Friday Agreement, particularly the power-sharing and equality provisions, and those who seek its full implementation? Will he clarify his absolute commitment to the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, with no dilution of its terms, endorsed by the majority of the people on this island? That is fundamental to moving forward at all times.

Will he agree it is absurd, a scandal and a disgrace that ten years after the cessation of the IRA and six years after the Good Friday Agreement, there are more British soldiers on the streets and roadways of the North than are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined? Some 12,000 British troops are based in the North. Is the Taoiseach aware that there is an increasing intrusiveness on the part of this military presence in the day-to-day lives of ordinary citizens? I experience being stopped at these road checks on a regular basis when travelling between Dundalk and Monaghan. This has not been a feature of life for a long time.

On 17 October, there was a British army helicopter incursion over Clones, County Monaghan. What steps has the Taoiseach taken to impress on the British Prime Minister the importance of earnest demilitarisation on the part of the British Government? This is not predicated on the resumption of the Assembly or establishment of a new Executive.

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