Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

When the people voted for the Good Friday Agreement, which contained three strands - the internal, the North-South and the east-west strands - in effect, they voted to allow the people of Northern Ireland deal with issues themselves. They wanted them to get on with their lives, to come together and to work together. It is almost 12 years since the Good Friday Agreement was passed. While it has taken a very long time to reach this stage, any progress or, indeed, even stagnation is better than from where we came. Any development, once it is not a retrograde step, is welcome.

I commend both Governments and the parties in the North for coming to an agreement on 5 February in Hillsborough. While on occasion, we in the South can be impatient, it is important to realise from where the parties have come and the difficulties inherent on both sides. It will take a long time until there is complete trust between all parties in Northern Ireland.

I hope the devolution of policing and justice, which people thought would never come, will come some time in April. It is important the Governments continue to play the role of guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement but, by the same token, it is also important that the parties can get on with their own business and that it is not necessary to hold their hands on all occasions. Both communities in the North want to move on.

It is important that there is no vacuum. Reference was made by a party colleague and others to the dissident republicans. Many of these young people do not recall what the violence was like in Northern Ireland - the endless horrors on our television screens and the endless suffering and pain. This romantic concept must be dealt with. We have a role to play in this part of the island by cracking down on these dissident republicans and by working in conjunction with the PSNI to address the difficulty. When one sees the horror visited on Constable Heffron and the families of the British soldiers and Constable Carroll, it brings us back to the dark bad old days. There is nothing more depressing than to see the violence reoccur. There is enough goodwill and commitment and the distance the parties have travelled over the past decade will ensure that we never return to those dark days.

Deputy Gilmore mentioned the parties and Government in the North dealing with the issues that impact on people's lives. The main political parties in the North have had their own internal traumas recently which show they are human like everyone else. The economy, education and employment impact on people there as much as they do on people here. Let us devote our energy to working together to create a synergy which helps to address those difficulties.

The decommissioning of the UDA and INLA in recent days must be welcomed. It is important to pay tribute to the work General John de Chastelain has done over the years. I recall attending a dinner at which he spoke of going to a barber for a free haircut. He said he would not go until there was a final agreement on peace in Northern Ireland. I do not know if he ever got a free haircut but he is probably entitled to it at this stage. He has given a very important period of his life to deal with the issue, as have the various representatives from the United States.

There will never be final trust until such time as the people in Northern Ireland work, play and go to school together. First we have to build up trust in the institutions in order that they can govern together and then the real trust will come from people leading their daily lives. It is important to recognise the positive and silent role President McAleese and her husband have played in the past few years.

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