Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I too welcome the Minister of State, the Bill and the debate. If for no other reason it lets me know what goes on in the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body, something which is denied to a mere Independent Senator.

The Bill need not take long. It is clear it is an administrative exercise and the House wants to give a fair wind to it. It enables us to pay tribute to the work that has been done in this field. Senator Mooney mentioned the International Fund for Ireland under successive chairmen and also the work that has been done with EU funding. The important thing is to get in on the ground. We commend the Governments and political parties for making agreements. However, these tend to be agreements made between political élites on either side and they need to engage the people on the ground and bring them with them. That has been the importance of these schemes, which need to continue through independent organisations rather than through Government organisations.

It is striking that the European programme made people work together and they built up confidence. Senator Mooney mentioned that some of these matters were viewed with a degree of suspicion by the Unionist and loyalist populations at the time. These are the people who need reassurance as they see themselves under attack and losing culturally, economically and in every other way, things that are happening anyway but are attributed to political movement. It is hugely important to reassure them and bring them along.

All we have done so far is bring the horses to water. It is important not to frighten them off before they drink. For this reason, while I wish Dr. Paisley well and he has work to do in his party, I do not want to make it harder for him to bear with the adulation of this House on his back. Both sides know what needs to be done and should help each other to do it. Sinn Féin clearly needs to clear up its position on policing, which is a sine qua non. The only possible policing service there is the Police Service of Northern Ireland. That force was produced as a result of the Patten reform, in which I declare an interest. Nevertheless, it is the new model police and there is no point in pretending that any other police service can be invented in the short term to take its place. Sinn Féin needs and has asked the British Government for the transfer of responsibility for policing to the Northern Ireland Assembly. People should not be frightened by that — it was envisaged in the Patten report. I do not believe that Sinn Féin would claim to want a Sinn Féin Minister; any Northern Ireland Minister would do.

If people want reassurance, the Patten model was designed to insulate day-to-day policing from political interference. In that sense people should not be afraid. It is important to let these matters develop in their own time. They are moving much better than any of us would have hoped some time ago. The Government has shown encouragement and the Taoiseach has been fairly faultless in his handling of the matter. People need to be reassured. We need to underline the primacy of politics. Politics must be seen to have worked. If this does not happen, we need only look over the precipice and see Michael Stones on both sides of the political agenda. It is vital that this be made to work and that the political parties step up to the mark and are seen to do so. We should give them all the help and encouragement we can. I welcome the work that has been done. I welcome the Bill, which, of course, we will support.