Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin agreed with the Haass proposals, even though they stretch us and those we represent, because we know that, in the longer run, we need harmony, tolerance and respect and we must appreciate that orange is one of our national colours. Our national flag has orange in it. It is not just green. Any unity of the people of this island has to include the unity of orange with the rest of us.

My first request is for the Government to take out the list and ask whether it has actively promoted North-Southery, built on the cross-Border implementation bodies to the degree that they could be and held the British Government to account for issues A, B and C. I attended Sinn Féin's Slógadh in Derry on Saturday. Acht na Gaeilge is still banned. One cannot use the Irish language in court in the North. The thousands of young people whom I meet in my former constituency, including my family members and garpáistí, are being raised through Irish, yet they have no legal right to that in terms of Acht na Gaeilge. There is no bill of rights.

There is no civic forum, there is no all-Ireland civic forum and there is no charter of rights for the island. This list goes on and on. These are Government responsibilities and one cannot blame the DUP, the Unionists or Sinn Féin in this regard, as these are Government responsibilities and then the issue is to lead by example. Unionists are as pragmatic as the rest of us and have come a huge distance. The core I described as bigoted and sectarian does not reflect the finer attitudes and the spirit of the business, community or church sectors or of those who I meet every time I am in the North and who want this process to work.

The job of work is not to assure the Taoiseach of my relationship with the Deputy First Minister because in the North he is my leader, in the same way as the Taoiseach is my leader in this State and particularly in dealing with the British Government. The job is to make sure the Government is doing its job in respect of its co-equal responsibilities and obligations under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements. This is the challenge because we can do talks that go nowhere or that fiddle around the edges or that assure the people of both States that we are true to the Good Friday Agreement and that the Taoiseach will act as the co-equal guarantor of people's rights.

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