Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is a long stretch of the imagination to go from there to withdrawing from a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council.

I would nearly give up on the possibility that an Teachta Martin might cease to behave in a partisan way when discussing matters in the North. The fact is that there are difficulties which will continue to present and which will create crises. The way to handle that is never to allow matters to reach the point of crisis. In other words, we must nourish and nurture all of the processes involved and work at developing them. We constantly return to the issue of dialogue. The Governments must uphold the primacy of dialogue. The Taoiseach faces a challenge in this regard. I met the British Prime Minister last week and I am in a position to state that he knows as much about the North of Ireland as I know about Outer Mongolia. Mr. Cameron just does not understand the position because he is a Tory and a Unionist. The fact is that he is in breach of serious obligations and responsibilities under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. His Government is a co-equal guarantor with the Irish Government in upholding the various agreements. If there is an element of slippage in the process of engagement in terms of the institutional infrastructure or the rights of citizens, then action must be taken.

As I informed Mr. Cameron last week, this matter relates to the rights of citizens. We have the right to Act na Gaeilge, to a bill of rights, to a charter of rights across the island, to a specific forum, to non-partisan public service policing, to access to education for our children and to the allocation of funding to underprivileged and disadvantaged areas on the basis of objective need. Those are our rights as set out in the Good Friday Agreement. The Government faces a challenge in upholding them. The former US President, Mr. Clinton, and his spouse, the former US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, know the nature of that challenge inside out.

As this discussion has been taking place, I have received a text indicating that the parties in the Northern Executive have agreed a statement - on the initiative of the Deputy First Minister - calling upon everyone to remain calm, uphold the law and so on. That is a good development, even if it does just reflect common sense. We met the Taoiseach last night and I know he is seized of the difficulties involved. The focus in the coming days must be to keep calm on the streets but also to prepare for September - the Unionists will not do any work during July - and ensure that a pro-Agreement axis emerges, provides leadership and progresses matters. That is how we will encourage positive leadership within Unionism.

As stated earlier, the vast majority of people, even those in the Unionist community, do not support what is happening in Ardoyne.

Even those in the Orange Order in rural areas do not support what is happening in Belfast. Let us consider the cost. It has cost £10 million to police an illegal encampment on Twaddell Avenue. The issues include upholding the law, supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland in its need to do its duty responsibly and, in particular, preparing for the autumn and a process in which people should hit the ground running. That is the challenge facing the Government.

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