Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I wish to establish my credentials first. I have four grandparents from the North — one from Saul in north County Down, one from Attical in south County Down, one from Maghery in north County Armagh and one from Colmcille in north County Armagh. In 1972 I had the duty of calling on my only sister to tell her that her husband, the father of her seven children, had been shot dead. Her first words were that Ronan, who was two years of age, would never get to know his father. For those of us who have been close to this, today is an eventful and an historic day. I listened to Senator Brian Hayes, Senator Maurice Hayes and others speak. Senator Maurice Hayes, in particular, is so close to this. For those of us who have lived with this war and whom it has touched so much, we live today with a great sense of hope.

I am reminded of Churchill's phrase, whom the Leader also quoted. He said we have not reached the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning. At this stage after so many false starts and disappointments, we should be very careful to guard against thinking the Northern problem is solved for good. The truth is that the long drawn out saga of the past nine years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement has, in reality, just been a prologue because the real work is only now about to begin. The work about which I speak is the project of reconciliation between the two communities in Northern Ireland. Until we achieve that reconciliation, we will not have anything which we can truly call a satisfactory conclusion to the story. I am being realistic about it.

Not only have we not made any progress on reconciliation in the past nine years — this was touched on today — in many respects, we have gone backwards. There can be no doubt in anybody's mind that today the two communities are further apart than they have ever been. This provides us with a greater challenge than any of those we faced in the past. It is not helped by the fact that this settlement, which we have so painfully crafted and so carefully and slowly steered towards implementation, is a solution which, if we are not careful, can just as easily deepen the sectarian divide as it can surmount it. By entrenching the politics of the North along the lines we have — this has been referred to already — it becomes easier to deepen them. That is what we must guard against in the years ahead.

All the political progress will be denied its full fruits if we cannot build on it to create a bridge between the two communities. I am an optimist and in my lifetime I have seen many deep and profound changes in the North and elsewhere. We can meet this new challenge if we put our minds to it. It is up to us, in all parts of the country, to make this work. I am pleased the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, is in the House because it must be a proud day for him to see this step being taken. However, it is only the start of so many other things.

We can give much thanks for all the efforts made by so many people over the years. I mention one couple who have done a huge amount, usually behind the scenes. I refer to President McAleese and her husband, Martin McAleese. I have been impressed by the amount of work they have done and the amount of reconciliation they have brought about. I am one of those who has had the opportunity to go to Stormont to play golf with Unionists whom we would not otherwise have had the chance to meet. Others have come down to Áras an Uachtaraín to meet people they would not normally have had the chance to meet. Today is an eventful day which gives us great hope. I am very confident that hope can achieve success because of the grounds on which it is built.