Seanad debates

Thursday, 8 May 2003

Northern Ireland: Statements.

 

We must also have clarity that this is a defining issue, not just for the republican movement but also for mainstream unionism. The Unionists must see a decisive break with the past and when such a break is made – clearly, unambiguously and definitively – we must engage in normal politics from that point and leave this issue to history. That is what all of us want to do, but there must be an assurance that there is a body of unionism which will state that it is entitled to and has been given a commitment that the organisation to which I refer is part of the past. That body of unionism must then state that, having been given the commitment, it will exist and govern without seeking references to the past. That is a big effort to make, given the history of the past 30 years, but we are entitled to ask for it. We are also entitled to be frustrated.

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