Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Lest there be any doubt about it, the Government is involved. It is not true, as Deputy Smith suggests, that the Government became involved at the end of this process. At this time last year, along with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, MP, I met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister at a time when the flags protest was in a very difficult situation. Considerable progress has been made over the course of the year.

As far as our engagement with the process is concerned, this was initiated in Northern Ireland with five parties involved. Dr. Haass and Professor O'Sullivan were invited to chair these talks by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. We all have to respect that and work with it. From the time Dr. Haass was appointed, I contacted him by telephone. I met him initially in New York and then subsequently met him here in Dublin. I have maintained regular contact through meeting and by telephone over the course of his work.

The two Governments are the co-guarantors of the Agreement. We are both of one mind that this must succeed. We do not want things slipping back. There are difficult issues that need to be addressed. We are both in contact with the leaders of the political parties and are both in contact with each other. As I have said, I intend to meet the Secretary of State again tomorrow and will discuss the issue further with her. I will continue to remain engaged. I am optimistic that this can be progressed.

To answer Deputy Crowe's question, I believe that all of the parties in Northern Ireland want to see this succeed. Clearly different parties have certain issues and there are compromises, as the Deputy rightly says, that have been reflected in the Agreement. However, I believe that all political parties in Northern Ireland want this to succeed and the two Governments want it to succeed.

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