Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The answer is “Yes”. I spoke to Mr. Nelson last year when he visited Dublin. That was one of the issues the parties discussed for inclusion in the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, of substantial funding under the peace dividend, the inclusion of INTERREG funding, and a recognition that of the many parades to which Deputy Adams referred the vast majority passed off without any difficulty, rancour or confrontation.

Deputy Adams knows better than most that in the interface communities it is community leaders on both sides who are able to bring about a sense of restraint and calm. What happened before and after Christmas did not help the situation. The intervening period of calm was for a small minority a period of build-up to what is happening now. I hope community leaders and the political process will keep very active and vigilant and that we can get through this period with no further serious violence as we have seen in the past.

The answer to Deputy Adams’s question on ministerial visits is “Yes”. Arising from the North-South ministerial meetings, a great deal of work is going on. The fact that the Presidency went from 1 January to the end of June did require a great deal of attention from all Ministers. Deputy Adams can take it that I am determined that Ministers and Ministers of State will involve themselves on a more active basis in visiting areas in Northern Ireland and different communities there in respect of building on the work of the North-South Ministerial Council and the engagement that is ongoing on a constant basis. That is only to be expected and would be in the interests of building further on the harmony between different communities. That will happen from the autumn.

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