John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is very important that he has taken time out to address us and bring us up to date on recent events and his recent discussions. I welcome warmly the contributions of colleagues on both sides of the House.

The serious impasse we face has to be met head on. It is time for some hard talking. I say this because I asked who the beneficiaries of this current impasse were. What concerns me is that they are the extremists on both sides of the divide. It is in no one else's interest that they are the ones who stand to gain. It is certainly not in the interests of the peace process and most definitely not in the interests of democracy on this island.