Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It does have to be said that it is a very small minority. People have a right to protest. Someone who is unhappy with a democratic decision made by the elected members of Belfast City Council is entitled to protest against that decision, and we defend that right. However, people are not entitled to fire petrol bombs at the police and intimidate and threaten elected public representatives, including some of those who were involved in making the decision in question. They do not have the right to disrupt the normal business life of Belfast and other areas in the way they have done. It must stop.

The Deputy is correct that it is required that the political leaders in Northern Ireland stand shoulder to shoulder. He will have heard from the Deputy First Minister that I have been very much in touch with the latter and other political leaders since this problem arose before Christmas. We had hoped it would die down over Christmas and the new year period but it has continued.

The original plan was that tomorrow's meeting would be held on Friday but there were problems at the Belfast end over people being available. I was anxious that the meeting would not be postponed. There is a Cabinet meeting tomorrow afternoon on the jobs crisis, which is very important. I decided that, rather than coming here for Leaders' Questions tomorrow and instead of postponing the meeting until next week, it would be appropriate for me to have it tomorrow. I do not want to see this matter long-fingered. We want to deal with it now and work with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I have been in touch with the latter regularly about what has been taking place with a view to having both Governments provide support to the political leadership and the Northern Ireland Executive in order to get on top of the situation and put an end to the street violence that has been taking place. It is also a matter of addressing the issues at the root of the problem. They relate to shared society, people's concerns and dealing with the problem of sectarianism in Northern Ireland, which the Deputy has rightly identified.

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