Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the vote by the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis to support the PSNI; if this vote has the potential to lead to the re-establishment of the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland; his further views on the conditionality attached to the motion; the efforts being made to ensure that Sinn Féin continue to support the PSNI and nominate to the Policing Board regardless of the DUP entering an Executive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4323/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the decision taken by the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis on 28 January last to support policing and the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. As the Taoiseach stated in this House last week, this was a landmark step. I also welcome the clarity offered by the leadership of Sinn Féin since the Ard Fheis in calling on everyone to cooperate with the police, including specifically on the murder of Robert McCartney, and supporting anyone from a nationalist background who wishes to join the PSNI.

There is every indication that Sinn Féin are taking forward this change of policy without further delay or conditionality, and I would encourage the party's representatives to continue doing so, including at local level. When the Policing Board is reconstituted following elections and the restoration of the institutions, it will be important for Sinn Féin to continue this approach and take their places on that body and participate fully in its work.

I believe that these steps, together with the additional confirmation given by the IMC that the leadership of the IRA remains committed to an exclusively political path and has abandoned violence and terrorism, mean that there are now no grounds for delay in moving ahead with the political process, and the timetable for devolution laid out at St Andrews.