THE HILLSBOROUGH Castle agreement provides the “basis for the future stability and success of democratic institutions which we all have worked so hard to create,” Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said.
He described the deal concluded by Sinn Féin and the DUP as an “essential step for peace, stability and security in Northern Ireland”.
At a joint press conference with British prime minister Gordon Brown, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Mr Cowen praised them for their “courage and determination shown in stretching” themselves to reach agreement. He further praised the “enormous effort” of Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin and Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward.
“Fair and balanced compromises were required so that gaps could be bridged and different perspectives accommodated,” he said.
“The completion of devolution of policing and justice in a matter of weeks is an essential step for peace, stability and security in Northern Ireland. It consolidates the operation of devolved government and closes the circle in the transformation of policing structures.”
Mr Brown thanked politicians both past and present from Britain, Ireland and the US who had contributed to the peace process since its earliest days.
He spoke of the “prize” of agreement, adding: “There is an even greater prize, that the politics of change and dialogue has irrevocably succeeded in Northern Ireland and this too sends a signal too to every peace process and every conflict across the world.”
He referred to a “new spirit of co-operation and a mutual respect” and urged the people of Northern Ireland to “seize this opportunity for a better future”. The achievements being unveiled at Hillsborough were, he said, “as great as they are inspirational”.
Mr Robinson said the search for agreement had not been easy and added: “No future generation would forgive us for squandering the peace that has been so long fought for.
“I don’t pretend this agreement has been easy to reach,” he said. “It has been hard fought on all sides, but it will be all the more secure for the time invested in it.”
He warned: “There are some who will play politics with this agreement. That perhaps is understandable, but the real focus in the months to come must be on building an administration at Stormont that our whole community can identify with and support.”
Martin McGuinness said his party and the DUP were “determined to face into the future and to face into that future together”.
The agreement meant that the political process in Northern Ireland may have “come of age”.
The Deputy First Minister, describing himself as an Irish republican with political views very much opposed to those of the DUP leader, said: “This should not mean we are incapable of respecting one another, of treating one another as equals and proceeding on the basis of partnership, respect, fairness and equality”.
He said Sinn Féin wanted to work alongside Mr Robinson “for the good of our entire community”.
The press conference was watched from the body of the room by members of the SDLP, Alliance and Progressive Unionist parties but not the Ulster Unionists. Asked about the absence of its leader Sir Reg Empey, Mr Robinson said: “Of course we would have liked the Ulster Unionist Party to be here – we have had many meetings with them during the whole of the negotiating process.
“I have made it clear to the UUP, as I did this morning to the other political parties, that we regard their support for the devolution . . . as an essential component in the demonstration of community confidence.”