Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I intend to propose later in the debate the Sinn Féin amendment to the motion before the House in the names of Deputy Kenny and the Taoiseach, the third version of the Fine Gael motion to be placed on the Dáil Order Paper within a few days. Fine Gael's inability to craft a motion for its Private Members' time does little for its claim to be the Government in waiting. Its ham-fisted approach to this debate reflects the bungling of its previous leadership of the peace process and illustrates its failure to understand the complexities of the issues we face.

My fellow Sinn Féin Deputies and I are proud to represent in this House our electorate and our party, which is a democratic party. We are here on the basis of our democratic mandate. Sinn Féin's negotiators have participated in every stage of the talks process and in every phase of negotiations on the basis of the party's electoral support and on that basis alone. Sinn Féin has the electoral support of well over one third of a million people in Ireland. We take seriously the responsibility our electors have given us and our obligation to represent them effectively.

As leader of the Sinn Féin Deputies, I wish to make clear our absolute refutation of all the false accusations of criminality made against our party. As the Sinn Féin amendment states, we reject criminality of any kind. I do not intend to use my limited time to address every false allegation thrown around this House and around the media. The charges do not relate to criminality, the IRA or even the peace process, they are about the party politics of this State. Charges are being made in a climate in which the old opponents of the peace process have come out of the woodwork. These are the people who vilified John Hume and Albert Reynolds for taking risks for peace a decade ago. The current Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform was among the begrudgers at that time. His recent conduct shows that while he claims to have changed his mind, his heart is still back in the days of section 31, internment without trial and the demonisation of the entire Nationalist community in the North.

It is ludicrous to suggest that somehow Sinn Féin has been assisted in achieving increased electoral support by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Progressive Democrats. What a joke. All these parties have tried and are trying everything to stop us. What are the so-called concessions or "acts of appeasement" referred to during this debate? Was the lifting of the political censorship of the broadcast media a concession or an act of appeasement? What elements of the Good Friday Agreement are now to be viewed as concessions and what elements do those who talk of appeasement want to see removed? Do they include the equality agenda, human rights issues and the status of the Irish language?

Let me make very clear to the two Ministers present and all others listening that we accept the validity of the institutions of this State. I have said so before in this House. We will not accept lectures on that score from either side of this House. Where the Government is concerned, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should use his expensive time dealing with the real crime and anti-social behaviour that bedevils communities in this State rather than indulging his antipathy to Sinn Féin. He and his colleagues would do better in the eyes of the electorate if they addressed in a real way the social and economic inequalities they have allowed to fester in this prosperous economy.

Great progress was made in this peace process last December. It is sad that so many in this House are so blinded by their anti-republican prejudice that they cannot acknowledge or understand the enormity of what the IRA was on the point of delivering at that time, including putting all arms beyond use by the end of 2004. Instead of building on that, the Governments allowed the agenda to be set by rejectionist unionism and thus created the impasse that exists today. It was a repetition of October 2003 when David Trimble was allowed to rubbish the report of the IICD.

The Sinn Féin amendment states that the two Governments can and should proceed with the implementation of those elements of the Good Friday Agreement for which they are directly responsible. These include demilitarisation by the British Government. Let its representatives in the House note and report this. Other elements include the full implementation of the Patten report and a new beginning to policing of a kind we can all support and in which we can all participate, increased all-Ireland co-operation and a thorough re-commitment by both Governments to the human rights agenda. We need to see full co-operation from the British Government with inquiries into collusion, including into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the many other instances of collusion in this State.

I firmly believe we can put this process back on track. Sinn Féin is determined to fulfil its part of the collective responsibility to address all the outstanding issues, including Unionist reluctance to share power with Nationalists and the issues of arms and armed groups. It must be made patently clear that we oppose a return to violence by any armed group. We will also oppose any attempt to penalise our electorate, treat them as lesser citizens, impose preconditions on our participation in dialogue and negotiations, or reduce those engagements to a one-item agenda. Sinn Féin is committed to building this process, building towards real change and the reunification of our island and our people. Accordingly, I commend the Sinn Féin amendment to the House.

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