Ahern hits at `people in time warp'

The Taoiseach last night repeated his criticisms of those who were dwelling on Sinn Fein's behaviour at the weekend ardfheis, saying "some people seem to be in a time warp".

Speaking at a Fianna Fail referendum rally in Dublin, Mr Ahern said he was "slightly disappointed" that the campaign for a Yes vote on the Belfast Agreement had been overshadowed by the controversy.

"We haven't been able to get away from something that happened on Sunday morning . . . Some people seem to be in a time warp, and not just in Northern Ireland."

Several hundred Fianna Fail supporters attended last night's rally, at which Mr Ahern appealed to party workers to help ensure a turn-out on polling day as high as the expected 80 per cent in Northern Ireland. "We should show that we in the South care equally strongly about peace and justice and the sanctity of human life," he said.

The Taoiseach described the negotiations leading to the agreement as "the most intensive ever seen in these islands". This gave the document the potential to command widespread support. "And if successful, it will consolidate peace and bring to an end 30 years of conflict, 70 years of deep alienation, and hundreds of years of bitter enmity."

Fianna Fail had no fears about North-South bodies, he added, citing the co-operation already occurring as a big factor in the success of the talks. "I could not have walked in and sat down with people like John Taylor and other unionist politicians if we hadn't built up a relationship over the years."

Fianna Fail's campaign director on the Belfast Agreement, Mr P.J. Mara, told party workers they had the benefit of unprecedented public goodwill toward politicians, arising from the success of the Stormont talks.

"At this moment, the political process and in particular our party and our leader are held in higher esteem than probably at any time in my involvement in politics," he said.

Mr Ahern's constituency colleague, Ms Marian McGennis TD, told the rally the document was "the agreement de Valera sought in 1922". Mr de Valera had made clear that he did not want to coerce the people of the North into a 32county state, she said. "What was required was for Britain to stand aside and allow Ireland to decide. That is what we have today." The Taoiseach also urged a Yes vote on the Amsterdam Treaty, saying Ireland was a model for other small countries in the benefits of European integration. He conceded that the treaty was being overshadowed by the campaign on the Belfast Agreement, but said the coupling of the campaigns worked the other way around as well: "If this rally was only about the Amsterdam Agreement, I'd be on my own here with P.J."