As a clear illustration of the continuing commitment of the British and Irish Governments to the Agreement, a meeting of one of its institutions, the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, took place in Hillsborough yesterday. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr. Reid, and I jointly chaired yesterday's session, and I will provide Senators with a more detailed briefing on our discussions presently.

I return to the first point that I wish to emphasise here today: the Agreement remains our template for political progress in Northern Ireland. It draws its overriding strength and authority from the sovereign will of the people of Ireland, North and South, and there can be no firmer mandate than that. Our absolute commitment to the Agreement is clear. As the Taoiseach and Prime Minister Blair said in their joint statement last week, the two Governments remain committed to "the full implementation of all aspects of the Agreement that will be within their respective powers to implement".

The current situation presents us with difficulties and these difficulties are not easy ones to overcome. Devolved government cannot be made to work effectively in a situation where there has been a breakdown of trust and confidence between the parties. Restoring that trust is the challenge that we now face. It may not be easy and there are no doubt difficult challenges ahead, but I firmly believe that it can be achieved. However, one thing which must now be abundantly clear to all is that the use of force, or indeed the threat of force, does not have any place in the democratic politics of this island and offers nothing but misery and suffering to our people. That imperative applies to all paramilitary groupings, both republican and loyalist. We have all invested too much in this process to contemplate any sort of return to the failures of the past.

Senators will have listened to and absorbed, as I did, Prime Minister Blair's speech in Belfast last week, which gave us a perceptive and candid insight into his personal experience, both of the elation of Good Friday 1998 and the grind that has followed in making it a reality. I have shared some of the grind in the last four and a half years and certainly share the Taoiseach's determination not to countenance any path other than the full implementation of the Agreement.

In the same spirit of constructive candour that characterised the Prime Minister's remarks, I would like to address the point he made about perception difficulties for Unionists in terms of Sinn Féin being included in government in Northern Ireland, in contrast to the situation in the South. The Prime Minister is correct in saying the Government's response to this perception of differential treatment may not be as pithily expressed as the charge. However, that does not make our position any less valid.

The fact of the matter is that circumstances in Northern Ireland are very different from this jurisdiction. The devolved institutions of the Agreement were specifically designed to operate on an inclusive basis, with automatic representation in the Executive for those parties which achieved the required electoral mandate. All of the parties to the negotiations signed up to this arrangement which was endorsed by the people of Ireland, North and South. We are in a transition period in Northern Ireland from a destructive and divisive conflict to a more peaceful and democratic society. In our own history in this State, a similar transition was achieved many decades ago.

In the years since the signing of the Agreement in 1998 and its subsequent endorsement by the people of the island, we have only gradually become fully aware of its vast potential to effect transformation. It has greatly improved the situation, not only through the creation of the new institutions of the Agreement, but also through the hands-on experience gained by politicians on all sides in making them work. The Agreement has set a new agenda based on partnership, equality and mutual respect.

The last 12 months, in particular, have witnessed changes and developments on a scale which was truly impressive and which, five years ago, might even have been regarded as unrealistically ambitious. We had two acts of arms decommissioning by the IRA duly verified by the independent international commission on decommissioning, the second of which involved a substantial and varied quantity of arms being put permanently beyond use. Regrettably, the IRA's initiative in this key area was not matched by parallel moves on the loyalist side.

Significant announcements about the normalisation of security arrangements in Northern Ireland were also taking place at this time. Additionally, the British Government announced in May that a number of military facilities in Northern Ireland would be transferred to the ownership of the Northern Ireland Executive for economic and community use, as a consequence of very effective work by the First and Deputy First Ministers.

While some welcome progress on security normalisation has been made, there is certainly scope for doing a good deal more. For many Nationalists, there is still a far too intrusive security presence with little evidence of visible reductions despite the Agreement and the enormous improvement in the security situation throughout Northern Ireland. In this regard, I welcome the indication by Prime Minister Blair in his speech last week that rapid and total progress on this and other issues was possible in the context of the full implementation of the Agreement.

In recent years the Northern Ireland Executive, under the joint leadership of David Trimble and both Seamus Mallon and, latterly, Mark Durkan, has achieved much success in bringing together political representatives of both communities to work in partnership with common purpose, for the betterment of all of the citizens of Northern Ireland. The work of the Executive has had a substantial impact, with locally accountable Ministers taking decisions of real importance and significance to the lives of the people of Northern Ireland. A full range of matters have been addressed, including agriculture, industrial promotion, health and education.

The successful workings of the Executive have shown beyond question that partnership government works to the benefit of both Nationalists and Unionists alike. Moreover, while some anti-Agreement parties might still have difficulties with the concept of a fully inclusive government involving participation by Sinn Féin, the political requirement of partnership government embracing both Unionists and Nationalists is now a recognised principle across the full spectrum of political opinion in Northern Ireland.

The Assembly has also been operating successfully, proving itself capable of withstanding robust debate on controversial matters in line with the best traditions of parliamentary democracy. Assembly Members from all traditions have taken on their responsibilities with commendable enthusiasm and sincerity and their contributions have been marked by commitment and diligence.

Meetings of Ministers from both parts of the island through the North-South Ministerial Council have become a recognisable feature of ministerial calendars, north and south. Ministers from both parts of the island, representative of both traditions, have been taking decisions on a regular basis that benefit all of our people in a practical and meaningful way. While North-South Ministerial Council meetings have become unremarkable parts of the diary of most Ministers, it is worth recording here that 65 full meetings at ministerial level had taken place prior to suspension.

Similarly, the all-island implementation bodies established under the Agreement have now been in successful operation for over three years. They operate in sectors which range from trade and business development to the maintenance and development of the island's waterways to food safety promotion, and their functional achievements are many. The development of rational co-operation in a sector that is economically vital on both sides of the Border is perhaps seen most manifestly in the case of the all-island tourism organisation, Tourism Ireland Limited. The promotional campaigns of Tourism Ireland Limited are undoubtedly crucial to the success and development of the industry throughout the island at a very challenging time in the global tourism market.

I pay tribute to the outstanding effort and commitment which all Ministers, from both parts of the island, displayed in the operation of the North-South structures. While we all came to these meetings from different political cultures and traditions, these were transcended by a common commitment to advance co-operation between both parts of the island to the mutual benefit of our people. In my experience of these meetings, partisan politics was never allowed to undermine sensible and practical work that improved our citizens' lives. I, therefore, pay particular tribute to the Ulster Unionist Party Ministers for their honourable and diligent participation in the work of the North-South Ministerial Council. The sooner we can renew that partnership the better for all of the people on this island.

When we look at what has been achieved in such a relatively short period, we gain a renewed sense of the importance of preventing the development of a political vacuum. The seeds of fruitful change have been sown and it would be unthinkable to abandon the Agreement without giving it the necessary time to mature and produce a maximum yield. We must continue to nurture the Agreement and to ensure that the transition from paramilitarism to exclusively democratic means is clearly advanced towards a definitive and unambiguous end-point. We cannot allow the process to descend into deadlock.

We need to re-establish confidence on all sides to safeguard the Agreement's achievements to date and to secure progress on the areas which remain outstanding. We are all agreed that the transition from paramilitarism must be demonstrably advanced if the necessary trust and confidence to sustain the institutions is to be refurbished. Equally, however, that transition will not happen if we simply sit back and wait for it. It is clear that the required transition can best be achieved by driving forward the Agreement.

At the core of the Agreement is the partnership of the two Governments, and this strategic relationship continues to provide the underlying stability and support for the redevelopment of trust among the parties. The vibrancy and cohesion of that partnership has been particularly evident in recent weeks, including the recent meeting between the Taoiseach and Prime Minister at Downing Street and their subsequent joint statement of 14 October which laid the basis for the two Governments' management of the current difficulties. The Taoiseach and Prime Minister will have a further opportunity to review developments when they meet tomorrow in Brussels en marge of the European Council.

One of the ways in which the two Governments will continue to co-operate bilaterally is already provided for under the Agreement itself. The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference was created under strand three of the Agreement. The Conference provides a platform for co-operation between both Governments on all matters of mutual interest. However, it particularly recognises the Irish Government's special interest in Northern Ireland and the extent to which issues of mutual concern arise in that regard. The Conference is tasked with meeting on non-devolved Northern Ireland matters, including, among other things, the areas of rights, justice and policing.

The Conference provides a basis for the ongoing co-operation that will facilitate the two Governments in their management of the process. This will be particularly important during the hiatus in the operation of devolved institutions in Northern Ireland. While co-operating through the Conference, our ultimate aim is directed towards the full operation of all the institutions of the Agreement, including the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive and the reactivation of meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council.

Lest there be fears or misapprehensions, I reiterate that the British-Irish Conference is not joint authority nor joint authority in waiting nor is that on the agenda of the Irish Government. We want to see a devolved government operating on a fully inclusive basis and we want to have a full partnership with that administration, involving Unionists and Nationalists, through the North-South Ministerial Council.

At yesterday's meeting of the Conference, at which I was accompanied by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Michael McDowell, we reviewed recent political developments with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr. John Reid, and Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, Ms Jane Kennedy. Both Governments again reiterated our commitment to the Agreement as the only viable future for the people of Northern Ireland and emphasised our determined wish to see devolved Government restored as soon as possible and, in any event, in advance of the scheduled elections.

In keeping with its mandate under the Agreement, the conference reviewed a number of confidence issues, including the process of security normalisation and the implementation of changes to the criminal justice system. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the review of the operation of the Parades Commission and the Barron Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings were also discussed and we agreed to meet again in the format of the conference in December.

The conference also discussed the implications of suspension for the operation of various institutions under the Agreement. The determination of both Governments to protect the achievements of the Agreement in all its aspects was reflected and we considered the practical steps that need to be taken in that regard. One such practical issue that our officials will address is the continued operation of the all-island Implementation Bodies, which employ over 600 people in locations such as Enniskillen, Cork, Scarriff, Newry and Omagh. The total budget for these bodies is about €200 million. In a short space of time, they have become a vital part of the economic and social fabric of the island.

Policing is another central element of the Agreement and substantial progress has been made in this area in the last 12 months. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has come into being drawing recruits on a 50:50 basis from both communities. The Northern Ireland Policing Board has proven to be one of the key achievements of the Agreement as it has shown that it is capable of dealing with controversial and sensitive issues in a positive and cohesive manner. I am glad that its members have agreed to continue serving on the board during the period of suspension, continuing their commendable work on a new era of policing in Northern Ireland. While much has been achieved on the policing issue, there is undoubtedly more to be done to realise the vision of a police service that is acceptable to all sides of the community.

We will continue to drive forward the agreed agenda for change, including the introduction of additional legislation by the British Government as provided under the revised implementation plan. The progress achieved on policing through the Agreement should not be materially affected by the suspension and we will continue to move the agenda forward in the weeks and months ahead. At yesterday's meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, I was pleased that the British Government confirmed its intention to introduce amending legislation as early as possible in the forthcoming Westminster parliamentary session, in accordance with the provisions of the revised implementation plan.

The Agreement signalled the prospect of a fresh start for a divided community and we must continue to move towards a full normalisation of society in Northern Ireland. There have been setbacks in recent times. During a tense summer, we witnessed a series of violent events that we had hoped were consigned to the past – sectarian murders, vicious sectarian attacks, pipe bomb attacks, punishment beatings and shootings. The fact that such crimes are still occurring is a stark warning that complacency is not an option. We are continuing to make it clear to all in Northern Ireland that such attacks simply have to stop. At yesterday's conference meeting, we were briefed by the Chief Constable of the PSNI and the Deputy Garda Commissioner on cross-Border security matters. There was also a wide ranging discussion on paramilitary activities, sectarian violence and disturbances in interface areas. The two Governments restated the message that there can be no place for the twin scourges of paramilitarism and sectarianism.

I am particularly concerned at the systematic and ongoing violence of loyalist paramilitaries. The PSNI has certified that the majority of the serious violence, including murder, has been coming from that quarter. The serious injury of two young teenagers, who were struck by a pipe bomb in east Belfast last night, was a shocking and barbaric act. This litany of crime and thuggery has to be brought to a complete and rapid end and I do not doubt that the Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, is determined to stamp down on such nakedly sectarian attacks. I particularly welcome yesterday's find of weapons in the Rathcoole area of north Belfast and I wish to reiterate the Government's strong support for the PSNI in all its efforts to bring an end to violent sectarianism. Continuing and effective policing reform is the best guarantee that the rule of law will prevail and that those responsible are made accountable for their criminal activities. Vulnerable communities are entitled to the protection of effective and consistent policing. Equally, the PSNI, which undertakes that difficult task, is entitled to expect the support of the community it wishes to serve.

I think Senators will agree with the comments made by the chairman of the Labour Court, Finbarr Flood, on "Questions and Answers" two weeks ago. He said that when trust breaks down in industrial relations, all parties are required to make a quantum leap to salvage the situation. This perceptive insight is also a valuable one in the current context of the peace process. There is clearly a need for such a leap on all sides to get clear of the present impasse.

While I strongly believe such a quantum leap can happen, it will require that all parties to the process undertake a rendezvous with reality. If we are to make the great leap forward, advancing substantially the transition from paramilitarism to democracy and refurbishing the trust and confidence required for partnership government to operate, we must all get real. We need an end to tactical games, polemics, posturing and paramilitary muscle flexing. Civic society on this island needs to send a clear message that no one should be playing party political games with the peace process. Everyone should be getting on with it, leaving any partisan tactics and unhelpful behaviour behind.

All of the parties which subscribed to the Agreement have a contribution to make in now achieving the political context which allows its potential to be realised fully. The Agreement was the product of a huge collective endeavour across the spectrum of politics in Northern Ireland. In renewing and revitalising the Agreement, we again need to harness the energy and talent of that collective input. In consultation with the parties, the Secretary of State and I are currently considering how that collective engagement should best be structured and deployed.

We have come a long way since Good Friday 1998. The two Governments are determined that the achievements of the past four years will not be squandered but maintained and developed. We now have, however, a challenge and an opportunity to finish the job. We must establish the political context that entrenches the peace and total equality which are at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement. Peace involves an end to the practice and culture of paramilitarism and equality demands an unambiguous and permanent acceptance of partnership politics and inclusive government. With the continued support of this House, that is the urgent and vital task the Government will be addressing in the weeks and months ahead.

Difficult things need to be said in order that we can move forward. Four years after the negotiation of the Agreement the situation cannot remain that active paramilitarism continues to be linked with a political party in a normal democracy. We all know Northern Ireland is not a normal democracy, but we expected, not just in Northern Ireland, but also in this jurisdiction, that significantly more progress would be made on the twin issues of decommissioning and the abandonment of paramilitarism than has been the case.

I will not lecture the House on all the developments of the last four years, but we all know that decommissioning has bedevilled the process. Senator Mitchell's twin track approach proposed that as talks moved forward, decommissioning would take place, but that did not happen. The former Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Labour Party, Dick Spring, held the view that decommissioning would start even before the talks. That did not happen. In the Agreement itself there was a clear undertaking that disarmament would be achieved within two years. That did not happen either. After the Weston Park talks and the 1 August statement issued by both Governments, the IRA stated it would engage with the decommissioning body to such a degree that it would ensure maximum public confidence would be restored on the issue of decommissioning, but we have only seen two events, significant though they were.

Paramilitarism, be it republican, loyalist or whatever form of neo-nationalism, must come to an end once and for all. Those who still have a military connection to certain organisations must hear it loud and clear from the seat of our democracy that we expect commitments entered into in 1998 to be honoured.

The Minister did not refer to the recent spate of incidents and alleged incidents in Northern Ireland and in the State about which we are concerned. I refer to the recent incident in County Wicklow where, I understand, five men were arrested by the Garda in connection with incidents there. I also refer to the ongoing punishment beatings and shootings by loyalist and republican communities and the Stormont arrests, although they were ham-fisted. Would we accept it if the Progressive Democrats, the minority party in government, sent to another organisation transcripts of a conversation between the leader of the Government and another of its members? We would not. We would not accept any party in government handing over to third parties confidential information, such as the names, addresses and telephone numbers of prison officers in Northern Ireland or anywhere else. Depending on the information which comes before the courts, these worrying incidents seem to have occurred. If the IRA has been put out of business, why were four members convicted in a US court on gun running charges in September 2000?

I do not raise these issues in a party political sense or to put a spanner in the works but to reinforce the view that obligations must be met on all sides. In that regard, I want to quote a small section of the British Prime Minister's speech last week in Belfast when he correctly described the core of the Agreement. He stated:

At the core of the Agreement was this deal: in return for equality and justice – in politics, policing, in acceptance of nationalist identity – all parties were to commit exclusively to peace. And for unionism, the right of the people of Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK so long as a majority want to, was enshrined. Indeed, provided, in effect, unionists agreed to equality and to recognising the legitimacy of the identity of nationalists, the union would remain.

That is an essential point on which we must make progress. We entered the twilight zone politically ten years ago when our discussions with republicans first started. That zone must end now. The people concerned must be informed of their obligations. They must be reminded that the transition into democratic politics is the only impediment which will stop progress on all the outstanding matters. I urge Members of the House and all parties to remind them of their obligations under the Agreement. It is the only one which provides for the self-determination of our people, North and South, since it was agreed in 1998.

We all know the IRA was given significant concessions as part of the deal that was negotiated. We should not forget that a former Member of the House, Billy Fox, was murdered in 1974. The person who murdered that member of my party was released under the Good Friday Agreement. It was difficult for people to make such a compromise. I encourage them to make that transition.

The Real IRA recently issued a statement that its self-inflicted war was now at an end. Has the Government made its view known since that statement was made? It may be the case that the new surroundings in Portlaoise do not suit some people and they want to declare a unilateral ceasefire. I am suspicious of the statement issued by that organisation. I want to know from the Government that deals, covert or overt, will not be done to ensure these criminals are released from prison.

The Minister cited the Taoiseach's description of the temporary suspension of the devolved institutions as a setback and not a defeat. His words are correct and that spirit, on which democracy is founded, has permeated all the substructures and aspects of the peace process in the North. If we hold firm to our belief in the process, the transient difficulties which have emerged on this occasion, and on other occasions when they were worked through, can be put into perspective. Yesterday the Minister and his opposite number were ensuring that business will proceed and that, rather than bureaucracy taking over, the will of the people will prevail. For the time being, this is not taking place through the devolved Assembly but by using other methods. We should hold fast to this effort.

With such a dramatic transition under way during the past four years, many setbacks will be inevitable, particularly when one recalls the background of the various public representatives who entered the devolved Assembly, the nature of their convictions, many of which they hold as firmly as ever, their thought processes and the sensitivity required to weld together trust among the protagonists. Trust is essential for the political system to work and when one considers the huge degree of give and take and trust which is required in this context on a daily and hourly basis, it becomes apparent that we have failed to sufficiently take stock of our achievements in recent years and the giant steps we have taken. This approach – taking matters for granted – is in some senses an example of how deeply rooted the process has become. It is now part of people's everyday lives.

We want the protagonists to declare openly and unambiguously that violence from whatever source or for whatever spurious reason has no part to play in the democratic process. We do this regularly, emphatically and openly and must continue to do so. The main task is to rebuild trust. People on all sides will argue that certain matters have not been attended to and must be addressed. All these fragments and components will now be worked through in order that we will be able, I hope, to build layer by layer the special trust that is necessary to re-establish the entire devolved system of Government in Northern Ireland. That is my wish.

I was very honoured by the Taoiseach's request that I act as party spokesperson on Northern Ireland in this House. In the period 1994 to mid-1997, when we were in opposition, I was given a number of roles on this issue which I was always glad to fulfil. There is not an Irishman or Irishwoman who does not have an abiding sense of history about what is happening on this island. Everyone, regardless of political party – in this respect I welcome Senator Brian Hayes's firm cross-party commitment to the process – wants the process to be given a fair wind.

Given that so much has yet to be done and we do not live in a utopia in which everything works out satisfactorily for everybody, it is inevitable that huge issues, as well as matters of lesser concern, will arise. In a strong democratic process, such issues must be worked through, trust rebuilt and violence disavowed. I commend the work of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen, in this process and his decision to come to the House to debate the issue.

I compliment the Minister on his extraordinary work on both the Nice treaty and this issue. He has done a fantastic job. I ask him to consider re-establishing the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. There is outstanding business which the forum could consider, particularly on the question of consent which was not addressed last time round because the parties could not find common agreement on it. This fits in with Senator Brian Hayes's call that everybody in the Houses be tied into the issue of consent which has been accepted and adopted by the vote of the people in both parts of the island.

The Minister and other speakers noted that the Good Friday Agreement amounts to more than the Assembly. While I will not labour the point, it needs to be taken a little further. None of the sides is acting in a fully responsible manner. I accept the Unionist community is entitled to feel as it does about decommissioning, the alleged activities in Columbia and Florida and the alleged espionage in Stormont. There is no question these matters are important. Equally, Sinn Féin has not accepted the huge advances made in the area of policing. In view of the progress which has been made, it is unacceptable that it refuses to take its place on the Policing Board. I could make many similar points. However, while I understand the position of Unionists and accept their right to take their recent decision, possession of this right does not mean it is correct to use it. Their decision was wrong and they must now look beyond it.

The Minister's reference to Finbarr Flood of the Labour Court was interesting. Negotiation is essential. A chasm must be breached and people must take the necessary steps forward. The reality is that in all negotiations of this nature decisions are taken at the final moment when people are on the brink and, ultimately, they can only be taken by the people to whom they matter most. I ask people on both sides to consider this.

Too often the Assembly has broken down or been suspended, whichever euphemism best describes events at a given time, and it has been left to certain people to pick up the pieces. Sooner or later, a message will have to go out that a time will come when nobody, other than the parties most involved, namely, the parties in the Assembly, will pick up the pieces.

The decommissioning scenario sickens me too, but the Minister of State made the interesting point that decades ago a Dáil met in this building to which people carried arms and though it was not liked, people closed their eyes to it. We have outgrown those days, as have many other emerging Parliaments around the globe. I am not saying that we should condone or welcome such a thing, but our strong feelings and the need to express them should not be a block to progress.

I am delighted that we have the opportunity to debate this matter and welcome to the House the Minister of State who has been involved in it in various ways. I wish to share the rest of my time with Senator Norris.

We had a remarkable session in this House last week attended by Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, who addressed us during a very well informed and excellent debate. There is virtually no person in either House of this Oireachtas who has made any real attempt to understand the Unionist position, perhaps excepting Senator Ross. Occasionally I try. It is a failure of the Government. There is also a failure of imagination.

In the Minister of State's speech I see criticism of Unionists and advances for the Nationalist position, which are all seen as positive. What is there for Unionists? Have we ever tried to enter the mind of the Unionist and discover what Northern unionism means? There is no doubt that Unionists are caught in a historical bind and that the end game of the process in which we are all involved is the ultimate extinction of unionism. Let us try to reverse this. If we were back at the beginning of the 20th century and the end game was the extinction of an infant Irish Republic and its reabsorption into the British Empire, how emotional do Members think we would all feel? Yet, there is nothing for Unionists in a speech which states for many Nationalists there is still a far too intrusive security presence and little evidence of visible reductions and that the IRA's initiative in this key area was not matched by parallel moves on the loyalist side. Is that so?

Regarding decommissioning not being met by parallel moves, the first to decommission were the Unionist paramilitaries. They were the first to apologise and never got any credit for it, though, admittedly, it was far too little. What do we really know about decommissioning in Northern Ireland? For all I know they could have buried a box of paper clips because there is no quantification. We require and demand that the Unionist people sit in government with the Sinn Féin people who are clearly associated with the IRA while at the same time our own Prime Minister says he would not touch them with a barge pole.

Let us look at the catalogue which includes Colombia, Castlereagh – over which there is certainly a question mark – and the business in Wicklow where known Provisionals were clearly involved. Every time someone is interviewed about these matters they refer back to exactly the same thing. They use language describing how if one goes back to the fundamentals, one will see that the problem is Unionist intransigence. I am obviously a rather simple person and do not see how Unionist intransigence causes a bank heist in County Wicklow.

There is a responsibility on us all to move forward. In doing so, we must ask some hard questions and I am not afraid to do so. I am not afraid to ask those people who have replaced the balaclava with a veil of democracy what is behind that veil. These are the types of questions we must pose. We must ask them what is their serious intent with regard to their future activities.

On this island we have the Defence Forces. We have an Army, in which I am proud to have served. I am proud to have played my part in the face of so-called terrorists. However, we have walked on egg shells around these people for a number of years while they have continued a trade in terror, internally in this State and externally. How serious are they about democracy? There is no place for a dual track approach. I do not like to use the phrase "the armalite in one hand and the ballot box in the other", but it depicts the dual trade with which we have put up for far too long.

The challenges that face both Governments now are serious. I cannot comprehend a return to the past. I welcome the fact that the Agreement is an agenda based on partnership, equality and mutual respect, but those qualities extend to all peoples and not exclusively to a few.

Decommissioning is an issue that bothers me greatly, particularly when we are looking at decommissioning in this State. We are the guardians in one degree of illegal arm dumps, an area in which progress is far too slow.

While there is that setback, I urge Members, in asking these hard questions, also to give encouragement to those among us tasked with the responsibility to move this process forward. I welcome the fact that the all-Ireland implementation bodies will continue. This is a positive step and it means we are not pulling down the shutters. I appeal to those directly involved in bringing this process back on track to ask the hard questions. It is only when we receive the answers to those questions that we can truly move forward this process from the half-way line to the end line.

Episodes like Columbia, Castlereagh, on which I have an open mind, and Stormont, on which I have a less open mind, should not have happened. Nobody is looking for disbandment in real terms. Nobody is looking to denigrate people or to force them to do things that would make them look defeated. What the Unionist people badly need is to know that the war is over and that it will not be renewed. The challenge facing republicanism, which has proved itself to be very good at politics, the use of words and the formulation of phrases, is to find a way of showing that and expressing it practically on the ground. That would convince the Unionist community that the war is over and that they, as a political party, are committed to purely democratic and normal means of politics.

That could help in two ways in the short term. It would indicate that there is no threat to prison officers in Northern Ireland. Hundreds of families have moved house. There should never be such a threat to people. There is nobody in jail in that regard. A good deal of heat could be taken out of the situation by doing that. Once the measures to implement the changes in police legislation, agreed at Weston Park, are in place, they should take their place on the policing board. A commitment to police a society is the most certain endorsement one could have of one's commitment to the values of that society and to the democratic process. I hope they see their way to doing that.

I accept and believe the commitment of the Sinn Féin leadership to the peace process. I know where they want to get to, which is where we all want them to get. These are delicate matters of timing and sometimes the cart has to be put before the horse.

The majority of Catholics, Nationalists and republicans I meet increasingly doubt the will of Unionists for shared government. They believe that while decommissioning is a good excuse, if the IRA was to walk naked down Royal Avenue, there would be another excuse next week. Unionists have to restore that trust by convincing people that other demands will not be raised and that they will seriously try to work the Agreement. These two elements of trust counterbalance each other. Somebody has to leap first – I think it has to be republicans.

There has to be substantial, successful and persistent police action against loyalist paramilitaries. As the Minister said, based on the security advice he received yesterday, loyalists are by far the greatest offenders. Having said that, the loyalist and Protestant working class are lost souls. They do not have the political voice they had from people such as Gary McMichael and need the support of David Ervine and the PUP. It is extremely important that they are brought into whatever discussions and talks that are ongoing. I hope the elections are not postponed as they could be quite important. People should not talk about postponing them.

Direct rule should not be a comfort zone for any of the parties. It should not be made so comfortable that they do not have the incentive to return to devolution. People from all sides liked ruling themselves and were quite good at it. Direct rule should not be punitive, but should be sufficiently unattractive that people would want to take the reins in their own hands again.

I wish the Minister well and congratulate him on what is being done. I like to move forward with hope. It is a time for steady nerves, no recrimination and facing realities as well as getting others to face realities.

It has been painful for everyone – not just on a party basis. Each of us has a view of Ireland which is more or less our own and bits of it are more or less precious to us. It is the same in Northern Ireland. Each person has a view of Northern Ireland, the relationships within it and its relationship with the South. Almost everybody found something in the Good Friday Agreement which was painful for them, perhaps because of a family, political or housing experience. Each person had to choose to accept compromise.

We must be extremely careful in our use of language when working towards a compromise. We must make sure that the words we use are either properly qualified or made to apply universally. A word like "consent" is not simply one to describe the agreement that the constitutional status of Northern Ireland will not change without the consent of a majority of its population. If we believe in the principle of consent, the corollary is that the future of Northern Ireland must be based on internal consent. This means that members of the current demographic minority must not be coerced into institutional arrangements which are not acceptable to them. The same applies to members of the current demographic majority.

As we move increasingly closer to demographic equality, a whole new dynamic of consent approaches. I would be horrified if the constitutional future of Northern Ireland was decided by a 50% plus one voting arrangement. The idea that there could be such a spectacular change in constitutional arrangements because of a majority of 1% on either side and that ten years from now the pendulum could swing back in the opposite direction is a matter of concern. It must go deeper than that. It is for this reason that words like "consent" are so important.

It is time for us to speak honestly, not brutally or bluntly, to everybody in Northern Ireland, to ourselves and to everyone involved in politics, North and South. It is surely time for those who wish to lead the majority community in Northern Ireland – there are now two political parties in contention for this role – into institutions which have met with popular consent across the political divide to repudiate sectarian language, whether it is used within the sphere of politics or that of the church. There cannot be people in politics who feel they can utter the language of consent, agreement and tolerance in political institutions but who then donning a religious cloak, use language, phraseology and terminology about other religions which is grossly offensive and repudiated by the vast majority of the Protestant churches. It is not an attack on anyone to say it is time we moved on from the position where sectarian language is still being used and where people can move from one position to another.

If the latter is true, it is also true that we are entitled to considerably greater precision about the future than has been the case to date from those on the republican side. I wish to relate a story but I am reluctant to indicate to whom it happened because the person in question is a member of my family. Gerry Adams recently addressed a meeting in Galway about the Nice treaty. According to the person to whom I am referring, Mr. Adams was at his plausible best and extremely impressive. The person was so impressed that she attended a meeting in Salthill organised by Sinn Féin, in which she has a certain interest. An intelligent, perceptive young woman, she came away from the meeting frightened by the atmosphere of quasi-intimidation and the second grade Wolfe Tones kind of singing that was going on. In my opinion, it is impossible to have second grade Wolfe Tones songs because the originals are so bad.

The issue Sinn Féin faces is that the image it presents at mass public meetings and at recruitment rallies must coincide. In addition, what they say to us as plausible statesmen must match what they say to their members when they do not believe the media are present and when there is no need for them to be statesmanlike. Politicians in Sinn Féin and their colleagues on the other side of the divide must realise that the image they present must be always be the same, regardless of the circumstances.

I began, in the context of preparing for this debate, to reflect upon the anniversaries that have taken place this year. Great play has been made of the fact that Ireland will have been a member of the European Union for 30 years on 1 January. However, if we cast our minds back, we will remember that 1972 was an annus horribilis as far as Northern Ireland was concerned. Death and mayhem visited the streets of that jurisdiction in 1972 and the effects were also felt in the South. The excellent contribution of the Minister, Deputy Cowen, contained phrases such as "sectarian murders", "vicious sectarian attacks", "pipe bomb attacks", "punishment beatings" and "shootings" and one could be forgiven for thinking it was 1972 all over again. The sad reality is that in the interface areas of Belfast and other Nationalist areas of the North, such attacks, beatings and shootings are everyday occurrences.

As Senator Hayes correctly stated, however, there have been great changes and improvements in the past 30 years. Who would have believed that the changes which have occurred in Northern Ireland in the past five to ten years would ever have taken place? Such changes were hoped for and aspired to, but everyone felt ten years ago that it would take a great deal longer for them to happen.

I am forced to agree – this is the challenge for unionism as much as for nationalism – that the re-establishment of direct rule is not in the best interests of Northern Ireland. Such was the concern that direct rule was slipping away in the days leading up to the suspension, the mainstream Ulster Unionist Party, led by David Trimble, suggested that a Shadow Cabinet should be appointed the members of which could shadow the British Ministers. All of those – Ministers from the DUP, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party – involved in the governing of Northern Ireland, did an excellent job and that makes it all the more regrettable that political pragmatism, if one is a Unionist, or the political reality, if one is a member of Sinn Féin, heralded the eventual suspension of the Executive.

The Minister stated that he has no doubt that the Chief Constable, Hugh Orde, is determined to stamp down on nakedly sectarian attacks. In my opinion that is not only the responsibility of Mr. Orde or the PSNI; it is also the responsibility of the British Government. It has been acknowledged publicly – yesterday's security briefing confirmed it – that most of the sectarian attacks in the interface areas are coming from the loyalist side. That would not be acceptable in Bradford where similar but ethnically different communities face each other across estates. If it is not acceptable in Bradford, it is not acceptable in Belfast.

Violence, sectarian attacks and punishment beatings have no place in a democratic country. We should continue to condemn these attacks unreservedly. I do not accept Senator Norris's assertion that he and Senator Ross are the only Members who try to understand the Unionist voice and perspective. My party has always respected the Unionist position, without necessarily agreeing with its stance in many areas, and will continue to do so.

I am most concerned about the decline in support from middle class and moderate Unionists. That is a cause of concern for everybody. Senator Hayes made a good contribution in that regard. There is a need for give on both sides and for less emotive language.

Understanding Unionism should not be equated with agreeing with it. I am concerned about some anti-Agreement Unionists trying to invert the Agreement by making it exclusive rather than inclusive. That will not work. Greater priority should be given to economic considerations which are most important. It is a matter of grave concern to business people. The image of the Agreement having broken down does no good for investment in Northern Ireland so it is important to restore the situation.

Much time was devoted by the Governments to the issue of policing reform. That is the reason I was unhappy with the image of the raid on Stormont. That part of the raid seems to have been unproductive anyway but it sent out many different messages. The Chief Constable has apologised for it.

Many issues will be discussed in trying to resolve the current situation. It is vital that loyalism should come into the equation. It is a cop-out to claim loyalists are not part of government and that, therefore, their position does not matter. One of the biggest differences in political culture between North and South is the belief in the North that hard balling all the time is the best method of negotiation. What it does is lead to crises, stops and starts. If I had my wish it would be that negotiation would become more fluid, as we know it in the South.

Earlier this year I was in India at a time when Hindus and Muslims were fighting in Gujarat. I was not in the affected area, but that weekend hundreds were killed because of sectarian conflict. It reminds us of how quickly this could happen again in Northern Ireland, and just how short a time it has been since we were in the same situation. The goal is worthwhile. We must encourage people in the North to find the solution, whatever it may be.

I met the former South African President, Mr. de Klerk, recently at the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Glencree, County Wicklow, where he spoke about how they had managed to get both sides together in South Africa. His great achievement was to invite Mr. Mandela, who later became President, for talks on the country's future. He said the real problem was that once people came together for talks, they had to be reminded that no one could come out of the meeting happy. It is highly unlikely that all sides can leave any such meeting satisfied. Courage and leadership are also required in Northern Ireland. I hope that by talking and reminding ourselves that the goal is worthwhile, we will achieve it.

Decommissioning is the one facet that sticks out and is regarded by Unionists as bogus, cosmetic and virtually non-existent. One must be honest about it – what has happened in terms of decommissioning is zero. It has been a small, token gesture in order to produce a symbol to pacify and provide a fig-leaf for Mr. David Trimble. It has succeeded in doing this, but the emphasis must now be placed on what the British Prime Minister, Mr. Blair, said, that the next move is up to the IRA.

There is absolutely no doubt that the IRA has called more shots than the other side in this process. Neither is there any doubt that the situation in Northern Ireland is far better than it was ten years ago. We have hit crises before and will do so again, but this time the next move is up to the IRA. There has been too much evidence of its activities, including the incidents in Bray, Stormont, Castlereagh and Colombia. The IRA has got to prove for once and for all that the violence is coming to an end.

In reflecting upon the current situation we should consider the success we have had to date. It is not too many years since we were all living through a terrible nightmare on this island. People were almost afraid to turn on the radio in the morning lest they would hear of the latest atrocities. Gradually we became immune to what was happening, yet there were people with vision, patience and tenacity who were prepared to continue seeking a solution. At times, they circumvented problems and at others overcame them, but we reached a stage of positive interaction between the different traditions. We also restored sanity and hope to the island.

While I have no intention of apportioning blame for the current situation, it would be undemocratic for anyone to contemplate dismantling the Agreement. People on the island, North and South, have voted clearly for what they want to happen in their name and in demonstrating that confidence they have been proved right. No matter how seriously we view the current difficulties, can anybody genuinely imagine us returning to where we were? It is absolutely unthinkable that that would happen. Perhaps what we need at this stage is a commitment from all people of all persuasions, no matter how extreme views may be or how uncommitted views may be, that we will all work together in the name of humanity to bring about a full and final resolution of a conflict which has existed on this island for centuries.

However, it is not just about the institutions which are in place. It is imperative that we build on the common interests that we have in the area of community and, indeed, in civic areas. If we underpin them, through the various twinnings between towns in the Republic and in the North, and if we also look at what is happening in the area of co-operation and cohesion being developed between local politicians, we must build it at that level to ensure that what is being achieved will be sustainable into the future. There can be no place for sectarian bigotry in any society and it behoves all of us, not alone in political life but in society, to play our part to achieve a better Ireland for the future.

The Policing Board has been one of the great achievements of the Agreement. Under the able leadership of Des Ray and Denis Bradley, the board has courageously and cohesively tackled a number of difficult and sensitive issues. This is all the more remarkable when one considers that the board comprises political nominees from the SDLP, the UUP and the DUP. Many people would have doubted that politicians as diverse as Alex Attwood, Fred Cobain and Sammy Wilson would have been able to find common agreement on the handling of sensitive policing issues, but they have – on the symbols to be included in the police badge, on the Ombudsman's report into the investigation of the Omagh bombing and on the recent adoption of a manpower strategy, which included the contentious question of the full-time reserve.

The recruitment of Hugh Orde as the new Chief Constable, selected by the Policing Board, has also marked a significant milestone in policing change in Northern Ireland. In his first two months, the Chief Constable has shown a refreshing candour and directness in addressing the challenges and difficulties of policing in Northern Ireland.

The success of the policing project to date owes a considerable debt to the SDLP. At the talks in Weston Park last year, they negotiated the changes which, when incorporated into legislation, would allow the Patten threshold to be met.

Of course the operational performance of the PSNI over the last year has not been perfect. Even allowing for the inherent difficulties of policing in a divided society, the PSNI's policing of the interface violence in east Belfast over the summer left some room for improvement. In addition, the excessively high profile nature of its search operation at the Sinn Féin offices in Stormont was clearly ill-advised. However, the important point is that the PSNI is now being held to account for these failures – as reflected in the Chief Constable's commendable apology for the nature of the police operation at Stormont.

Policing change was always going to be a process rather than an event. The SDLP is an active and robust player in driving the change. Sinn Féin, on the other hand, has thus far not come on board the new policing dispensation. I respect its right to make its own judgment in that regard, provided it does not create a chill factor for others who wish to make a different decision. I welcome the fact that Sinn Féin has expressed a wish to come on board when, according to its own criteria, the appropriate threshold has been established. The sooner that happens the better for the overall health of the peace process, since the sight of young republicans in PSNI uniforms might be the most compelling and reassuring evidence that the war is indeed over.

In the weeks and months ahead we must re-dedicate ourselves to the task of fully implementing the Agreement. The current impasse is not a terminal crisis. It may be an opportunity to take the quantum leap which is required if we are to secure the foundation for stable and inclusive government in Northern Ireland.