Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I take this opportunity to offer an expression of sympathy to the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, who is attending the funeral of his mother, Mrs. Peggy McGuinness, this morning. Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire ar a h-anam.

Will the Taoiseach acknowledge and accept that Sinn Féin is totally committed to partnership Government and to full participation in the Northern Ireland Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council and the various other committees and cross-Border institutions that have been established under the provisions of the British-Irish Agreement? Does he accept that the current difficulties — we all hope these will be overcome as quickly as possible — are attributable to the fact that one of the participant parties at the Northern Ireland Assembly is refusing to agree executive agendas? Does the Taoiseach agree that certain issues are long overdue for address and that these were to have been dealt with in the context of the British-Irish Agreement and that the matters discussed in the course of negotiations on the St. Andrews Agreement, including the transfer of policing and justice powers from London to Belfast, must be delivered upon? Does he accept that several months have passed since the stated date, namely, May of this year, for the implementation of that decision?

Does the Taoiseach accept that partnership requires agreement on the part of all the principal parties in order that progress might be made and that in refusing to act in partnership, the DUP is causing the current difficulties? I assure him that my party will continue to work to overcome this impasse. What efforts will the Taoiseach and the Government make to encourage the development of forward momentum on this matter and the acceptance of partnership? Does the Taoiseach agree that this matter involves more than policing and justice, Acht na Gaeilge or any other issue and that it relates to the acceptance of partnership? The absence of the latter is the real cause of the current difficulties.

Has the Taoiseach been briefed on the campaign organised by the families of those killed in the Ballymurphy area by the British Army's parachute regiment in August 1971? What steps does he intend to take in the context of raising this matter with the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in a way that would be supportive of the families' request for a full, independent inquiry into the deaths of their loved ones and of a local priest in 1971? When the Taoiseach met Mr. Brown, did he receive a report regarding negotiations between the British Government and representatives of the Unionist paramilitaries — the Ulster Political Research Group — on the issue of weapons? He addressed this matter earlier in the context of his acknowledgement of the IRA's action in this regard. Has the Taoiseach been given an insight into contacts between the British Government and the Ulster Political Research Group on the important issue of weapons held by Unionist paramilitaries? Will he acknowledge the British Government's role in having this matter satisfactorily resolved, that is, ensuring the weapons to which I refer are completely taken out of the equation? The British are best placed in this regard because they were responsible for providing many of those weapons in the first instance.

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