Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy's point is that we do not wish to go outside the Good Friday Agreement, but the two Governments wish to stick to it absolutely. If we are forced from that, we intend to stick to it as closely as possible.

As the Deputy says, there have been alternative proposals from the parties. At this stage, every party has proposals on the way forward. The Assembly cannot meet in shadow fashion, since that is totally opposed by the SDLP and Sinn Féin, and if other parties wish it in that interim form, we must find a bridge between their viewpoints. Governments enforcing a solution and losing the confidence of one side is no use, so we must find a bridge with which they can all live. However, we believe it would be helpful if the Assembly were up and running. Obviously, we would like it to be up and running and to lead very quickly to form an executive. If that were a difficulty in the short-term, we believe the Assembly should operate so the parties, which have not met in over three years, will at least have the opportunity to discuss the way forward based on the Good Friday Agreement. If they have other solutions — the Deputy has referred to one of several — they could discuss those too. If they agreed, as is my hope, and the resolution were outside the Good Friday Agreement, we could all consult on whether it was acceptable. Some of those proposals deserve to be aired by the political parties in the North.

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