Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputies Jim O'Keeffe and Crawford. During the recent Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, the Taoiseach announced that the traditional 1916 Easter parade would be reinstated. An announcement of this type should have come about following extensive consultation with all political parties and not as part of a political party jamboree. However, the announcement was made without any consultation with my party or with some other parties in this House.

It is very telling to note that, following this announcement, Sinn Féin has tabled a motion calling for Ireland to prepare politically, economically, socially and culturally for unification. It seems to me that what we are witnessing is a type of power play between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin where each party is more concerned with consolidating its respective position with certain elements of the electorate rather than concentrating on the real work that must be done to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is implemented in full and that peace and stability is fully embedded in Northern Ireland.

The Sinn Féin motion as presented to this House is, therefore, opportunistic and premature. The goal of unification is valid but failing to recognise the work that must be done here and now will do nothing to achieve it. Instead of putting forward motions extolling the virtues of unification, Sinn Féin would be much better employed working in all possible ways towards meeting its responsibilities to the communities it represents. Sinn Féin representatives should take their places on the Northern Ireland Policing Board and at the district policing partnerships. Policing in Northern Ireland has been revolutionised with the establishment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI.

At the time of the murder of Mr. Robert McCartney, Sinn Féin found it impossible for many weeks to call for witnesses to go to the PSNI with any information they may have had regarding that dreadful crime. This failure to recognise the rule of law and order and the role of the PSNI in Northern Ireland was unacceptable, as was the party's entire response to the murder of that unfortunate individual.

Sinn Féin calls for the establishment of restorative justice schemes in Northern Ireland which it describes as a viable alternative to the PSNI. Alternatives to the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces in this State would not be tolerated by Fine Gael. Similarly, members of Sinn Féin should no longer seek to undermine the new structures of the PSNI but should take their places on the Northern Ireland policing board and work with other parties in Northern Ireland to build the best possible policing for the communities they represent.

Sinn Féin also has a clear obligation to co-operate fully with the Independent Monitoring Commission, IMC. IRA decommissioning is welcome but we must see an end to punishment beatings, the exiling of individuals and criminality perpetrated under the veneer of political activity. The recently published seventh report of the IMC noted that the Provisional IRA was responsible for a number of attacks over the period under review, including a shooting and ten assaults. In May, the Provisional IRA forced the removal of one family from its home and attempted to do the same to another last June. The IMC has frequently noted that the leadership of the republican movement has the capacity to turn on and off the tap of violence. We want this tap to be turned off for good and disconnected at the mains. All Members of this House will await the next set of findings of the IMC with considerable interest.

I am not in favour of any move that could be seen to inflame tensions on any part of this island. There are two main communities in Northern Ireland and a myriad of other people who are uncomfortable in aligning themselves with either grouping. The role of this House is not to alienate one community over another or to move in a direction that will clearly, overtly or deliberately antagonise or frighten others. Our role is not to frustrate the peace process or progress in Northern Ireland but to support it and the best way to do so is to focus all our energies towards the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

In this regard, the recent proposals from the Government to allow Northern Ireland's Members of Parliament access to the Oireachtas are deeply unhelpful. These proposals will damage the prospects for political progress because they clearly follow the demands of one party alone, as is also the case in this motion presented by Sinn Féin.

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