Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. Perhaps my call for greater participation by the governments was lacking in clarity. While taking on board everything the Taoiseach said to us and accepting that all of the participants - the British Prime Minister, the British Government and the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers - were enthusiastic about the process involved in the Haass-O'Sullivan work, the difficulty, as always, is that the devil was in the detail. When the process was concluded, we did not have anything like the same level of enthusiasm from the British authorities and the Secretary of State. What we are saying to the Taoiseach today is that there comes a point when it becomes incumbent on the Government to become a persuader. We all accept that the Taoiseach enjoys a very good relationship with Prime Minister Cameron and I can see from what he telling us that he sees a number of these problems being worked out as part of the ongoing engagement that he and his Ministers have with the British Prime Minister and his Ministers. However, there comes a point where the casual or routine engagement that may happen is not sufficient. There will come a point in respect of this issue where it must be seen that the Taoiseach and his Ministers are using their influence to persuade the British Government to become a persuader of the Unionist community because the issues are so vital. Were the participants in this a little idealistic in setting the very short time-frame for trying to seek a solution to the issues?

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