The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, was upbeat on in the North, but strong disagreement followed between members nominated to the Upper House by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
A speech by Dr Edward Haughey (FF) drew a strong response from Dr Maurice Hayes (Ind), who said he hoped he had not heard an expression of Government policy. "I think that would worry me. There had been an element of trying to put a lot of blame on the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, which I think, is not going anywhere."
There also seemed to be an element of unionist-bashing, he added. "If you want to throw petrol on the flames," he said to Dr Haughey, "I think you would start talking now about joint authority. There is nothing more likely to arouse the sleeping wrath of loyalist paramilitaries than that."
Dr Haughey, who is Government spokesman on Northern Ireland in the Seanad, said the word "agreement" was a misnomer in terms of the Belfast Agreement. A treaty or any part thereof could not be unilaterally suspended or changed. Therefore, one had to ask if the Belfast accord was legally in suspense.
To get back on the rails there must be a threat and an absolute certainty that those who did not adhere to the democratic wishes of the people would be strongly disadvantaged.
Dr Haughey said political parties were putting their spin on their lack of will to get together in the best interests of the people.
"Surely it is more important to have the guns silent, the country working and good government available to the people, rather than satisfying what in reality is a mythical belief that so-called decommissioning of weapons will lead to better government and stop those who are hell-bent on causing trouble and using violence as a means of enforcing their will on others; perhaps we should stop fooling ourselves. The so-called decommissioning will not stop this."
If the political parties of Northern Ireland, Britain and the Republic did not get the institutions reinstated, he feared a rebirth of the intolerable situation they had had for the past 30 years. "Time is not on our side," Dr Haughey said.
Mr Cowen said the North-South bodies were pressing on with their remits. He wanted to acknowledge the positive approach unionist ministers had brought to the North-South ministerial council to date. The Government attached great importance to Gen John de Chastelain's report of February 11th, from which they could build a resolution. "In it, the commission state in categorical terms that they believe the new commitment they have received from the IRA `holds out the real prospect of an agreement which would enable it to fulfil the substance of its mandate'.
"Think about those words. In the welter of charge and countercharge that followed the suspension of the institutions, their import has been lost. They are, in my view, profoundly important. What we have is the body charged by the Good Friday agreement with resolving the issues of arms formally stating its assessment that it will be able to fulfil its mandate."
The Fine Gael leader in the House, Mr Maurice Manning, said the stage could be reached where Mr Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein would have to accept that a split did not have to be avoided at all costs.
In the 1920s, leaders of what was now Fianna Fail had to decide whether to remain united and to go into a cul-de-sac with obscure theological republicans who might be ambivalent about violence, or to follow Eamon de Valera and Sean Lemass who broke with the past and took a political path. Mr David Norris (Ind) wondered what the paramilitaries would do in the event of a positive outcome. Within their ranks were people who had achieved status and authority through the gun.
There was a danger that even if peace was copper-fastened, there might be a Mafia-style network, he said.