Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Could the Taoiseach confirm who attended the meeting? Was it just the Taoiseach and President Clinton or were others at the meeting as well?

On the briefing the Taoiseach gave on Northern Ireland, Richard Haass and Meghan O’Sullivan came to Northern Ireland but the failure to reach agreement was very disappointing to all concerned and reflected badly on the main parties in the Executive. These issues are going on a long time, in particular the parades issue and flags and emblems. There have been many false dawns. There is an obligation on the main parties in the Executive to fulfil the commitments they gave a long time ago on those issues.

The British and Irish Governments need to become more involved than has been the case. They are standing back a bit too far from the fray. The dangers that can develop are very real in terms of the communities in the North and the potential of the issues to create more disturbances on the streets, as we witnessed at the outset when the issues came back onto the agenda in terms of the flags dispute, protests on the streets and the threats to people in their homes. We do not want to go back to that. I wonder at the toleration of people who come from the United States and elsewhere to mediate in such situations. In some respects due deference is not shown by bringing the situation to a conclusion and getting a deal done. A deal could have been done but that did not happen on this occasion for reasons of focusing on one’s electoral base.

Could the Taoiseach indicate the type of discussions that took place in terms of Ireland’s level of philanthropic giving? In that context, was there any discussion about tax relief or the situation pertaining to tax exiles and their treatment? The head of Philanthropy Ireland, Mr. Frank Flannery, has made public statements in that regard. Did he bring to the attention of the Taoiseach that the treatment of tax exiles should be changed in the context of the level of giving by the Irish philanthropic sector?

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