Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

If I am not mistaken, St. Andrew's day falls around this time. Apart from wishing the people of Scotland well in celebrating their patron saint, perhaps a prayer or two would not go amiss in trying to bring a resolution to the intransigence we are currently trying to overcome. In the midst of the delays does the Taoiseach see a prospect of other issues giving some momentum and a context or relevance to the process? I have in mind issues that have been in the news, for example, child abusers. That issue appears to have been caught up in the politics of Northern Ireland, given the delays in introducing cross-Border legislation to prevent the Republic becoming a haven for paedophiles. Does such an issue impact on the stand-off positions that are adopted, be they with regard to policing, power sharing or the other matters that crop up?

In that regard, sectarianism and the sectarian divide, particularly in housing, seem to be getting worse in the North. Does the Taoiseach envisage a role for the non-sectarian parties in the North, given that much of the attention appears to be concentrated on those who have the most sectarian backgrounds? Will that role include parties in this House, including Opposition parties, as well as parties in the North? Could that be seen as an effective catalyst to try to move beyond the sectarian politics which continue to exist, regardless of what agreement is reached?

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