Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Martin talks about something new and fresh being needed. Clearly we are not happy about the situation when there were riots before and after Christmas with disruption, injury and threats to PSNI officers, along with the acquisition and discovery of rocket launchers here in the South for use by dissident groups in Northern Ireland with potentially lethal consequences. That is why we had direct discussions with President Van Rompuy of the Council on the PEACE IV initiative, including funding of €150 million, not an insignificant amount, and how to use it effectively to continue the work many community groups on both sides of the divide have been involved in over recent years.

There has been a lot of interaction between the Oireachtas and the Assembly and the Government and Downing Street. I will speak with Prime Minister Cameron about this early in March when I visit there, both to review the strategic partnership agreement we signed on behalf of the Government and people last year and to focus on the question of Northern Ireland.

Deputy Martin is aware the G8 conference will take place in June in Fermanagh and there is an opportunity during the preparations for that to also discuss the possibility of doing some things differently in Northern Ireland. Clearly, it is vital that we continue to work in co-operation with the PSNI to deal with cross-Border terrorism. That is why I will raise the reports that Britain wants to pull out of the justice arrangements at European Union level with Prime Minister Cameron. This would have particular consequences when it comes to dealing with crime and criminal activities across Ireland. I intend to spend some of the time in discussions with the British Prime Minister on his own personal involvement in the activities in Northern Ireland, what we can do here to continue the high level of ministerial activity that takes place and see how best we can use our experience in Northern Ireland to predict the sore points and how we can then deal with issues surrounding contentious parades with the Parades Commission. We can then concentrate on moving beyond that to economic arguments about the fostering and development of investment in Northern Ireland, where the answer is for the creation of jobs leading to careers in business.

I intend to spend a portion of my discussions with the British Prime Minister concentrating on those areas and will follow through with direct ministerial contact where it is appropriate.

See this speech in context