Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I agree with Senator O'Toole regarding the situation in Northern Ireland. If his prediction that there will be no settlement or any negotiation until 2007 is correct, we will find ourselves in a very frightening vacuum. I echo the call for much more North-South and east-west involvement. We can show the lead in this House on a joint parliamentary basis. I know hindsight is 20-20 vision but when we eventually look back, history will tell the tale. The DUP and Sinn Féin called the shots in the last negotiations so why can we not show the lead this time?

We should also give agencies on a cross-Border basis more teeth, involvement and funding, whether it be Co-operation North, the International Fund for Ireland, INTERREG III or the Peace and Reconciliation Fund. We cannot create a community vacuum in terms of the peace process. We can still carry on and we can give local authorities in the Border counties more teeth and more involvement. There are many very good and effective cross-Border agencies at a local authority level which are working hard, coming up with good proposals and ideas, but which do not get the funding backup by Government. We owe that to them and we can bring the peace process forward if we show the lead.