Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste's reply. A number of weeks ago at a committee meeting to discuss the Estimates we discussed the huge progress made on the island since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. I referred to the constant need for vigilance, but little did I think we would see a return to headlines such as "Democracy under attack", which appeared in this morning's edition of the Irish News, or to loyalists trying to kill police officers. A number of my fellow members of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and I recently travelled to east Belfast to meet various groups. Loyalist leaders conveyed to us their concern about the need for further investment in their areas and progress to be made in education and the creation of employment opportunities. It was made clear to us that some of the communities in these areas were very poorly represented. I understand the Tánaiste visited a number of the communities in question in the same week we made our trip. It is welcome that he has conveyed the concerns of the Republic to the Northern Ireland Minister for Justice, Mr. David Ford, MLA, about the attacks on the Alliance Party and the threats made to some of its elected representatives. As the Tánaiste noted, in the past week we have again witnessed violence, intimidation, a series of illegal protests, arson attacks on political offices, thuggery outside Belfast City Hall and the putting in place of illegal roadblocks. We all genuinely believed these were things of the past. The Government must remain ever-vigilant in ensuring constant contact is maintained at political and official level in order to see to it that the current tensions will be eased. The Unionist leadership must give a clear message to the thugs to whom I refer that there is no place in the Ireland of today for street protests of this nature or such inappropriate and despicable behaviour.

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