Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I pay tribute to the great work done by the Taoiseach with his colleagues and civil servants over the past ten years on this but particularly since he became Taoiseach seven years ago. It has taken a great deal of time, been very arduous and required many sacrifices of him. We were privileged to listen to him today and have made significant progress to the point where closure is very near.

We should not put off achieving closure for 12, 18 or 24 months. That would be disadvantageous for the Northern Irish economy, from the point of view of moving on from the current lawlessness and level of crime. We have the opportunity to make a clean break with the past in terms of paramilitarism and of a consensus on policing and people joining up and participating in policing. None of those developments should be put off. There is a great onus on the parties in Northern Ireland and on the Governments to work hard before Christmas to try to crunch these issues and not to talk in terms of waiting until after the next elections and so on. We do not know what may happen, what accidents may occur to upset calculations. Let us strike while the iron is hot.

Reference has been made to four or five problems. The first is the language left out of the IRA statement. I will read it — incidentally it does not mention the word criminality — it states "...consistent with this and recognising the need to uphold and not to endanger anyone's personal rights and safety". How could anyone object to that? It was put to me on radio yesterday that this somehow involved the IRA admitting its campaign had been criminal. That is nonsense. Those words do not justify that interpretation. The Easter Proclamation contained the language "we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity or rapine". Was that an insult to, or slur on, the volunteers who took part in the Easter Rising? Of course not.

The notion that by definition the IRA does not commit crimes is preposterous. Even if it does compare itself to the ANC, that group, to its credit, admitted, before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, that it had committed many crimes which were not justified. It is fine for somebody from the DUP to say that he or she is not overly concerned about the issue but criminal, illegal activities are more likely to happen within the Nationalist community or the jurisdiction of the South. They are not likely to happen in loyalist east Belfast so that is not an adequate argument.

Transparency is the issue underlying photographs. There was insufficient transparency and that led to the problem. Part of the solution is that General de Chastelain should be allowed to say much more than he has been able to say in the past. The two clergymen should be allowed without restriction to say what they have witnessed. In a religious context I have difficulty with the maxim, "seeing is believing" because in many ways in the Christian religion believing is about not seeing.

We were all moved by Senator Finucane's comments about the indefensible attack on the integrity of a citizen of this State, let alone a legislator. If the killers of Garda McCabe are to be released in the context that I need not repeat, that does not in any way legitimise an absolutely appalling act. The Government's line in the Good Friday Agreement, and in most other statements, was rightly that these prisoners would not under any circumstances benefit from the early release terms of the Agreement.

They have not done so, and they will not be specified as prisoners. If there is ultimately any release, it will be carried out under other legislation and will not fall into that context. Regarding the SDLP, whose representatives members of many parties may have met yesterday, the case has been outlined here. The point must be made that the vast majority of its problems relate to strand one, the internal organisation of Northern Ireland, including such matters as the election of a First Minister.

The Irish Government has no role regarding strand one, the internal operation of the Agreement. It cannot fairly be criticised for what has been negotiated. In the statements last week, for example, there were proposals from the British Government for changes to strand one institutions. Technically speaking, when we voted, we did so on the British-Irish Agreement, which did not contain material relating to the internal workings of the institutions. We also voted on changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. I am not convinced that the criticisms of the changes to strand one have the force the SDLP maintains, but it is fighting a political battle with Sinn Féin, something that we must understand. Of course, it was most unfairly criticised by Sinn Féin on policing, to which it signed up.

I will briefly address Seanad reform. There should be a constitutional provision, and it should be entrenched, since taoisigh are under a great many political pressures after an election. If it is not entrenched, one cannot guarantee it will always happen. There is practically universal agreement that Northern Senators have contributed very substantially. For example, Senator Maurice Hayes does not contribute solely on Northern Ireland or Europe; he brings a Northern perspective to a great deal of legislation we discuss in this House. That comparative perspective, whether on health or justice, contributes a great deal. If I have a criticism of the Seanad report — I have made it before — it is that two seats are not enough. If there are only to be two seats, they will inevitably go to someone associated with the two majority parties.

My final point is very important. The peace process has not been, as is sometimes implied, one of appeasement, whereby Sinn Féin has been getting more and more. We must remember that we have been making many more demands on Sinn Féin. We have gone far beyond the text of the Good Friday Agreement. We are involved in a very important process of establishing full democracy on this island, something that has not fully existed in our lifetimes. Even in the 1950s and 1960s, the IRA was there in the background. We look forward to a situation of complete democracy, and we should not represent the peace process as a one-way street in which we have been giving ever more to Sinn Féin. The republican movement is giving more and more to us and to the democracy of this country.