The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney warned yesterday that US intervention may be needed to resolve the crisis in the peace process. She also said: "There will have to be a gesture on decommissioning definitely - a substantial gesture".
Former US Senator George Mitchell had the capacity to be trusted by all sides, she said, during an interview in Sydney at the start of a three-day visit to Australia to promote trade and investment. Asked about reports that US President Clinton had offered to help break the impasse in any way possible, Ms Harney said: "It may well come to an American intervention to resolve outstanding differences."
She pointedly praised Mr Mitchell, who chaired the talks which led to the Belfast Agreement, for his ability to bring the sides together. "We have to call on those who have had the capacity in the past to deal with situations like this. It may well be time for Senator George Mitchell to deal with these negotiations," she said.
"I don't know how it will be resolved but I believe it will be resolved." Later at a reception for Irish Australians, Ms Harney emphasised that the differences had to be overcome. They had to make sure they got the final pieces of the jigsaw together. Asked about her reaction to the verdict of manslaughter in the Garda McCabe case, Ms Harney expressed disappointment.
"I was very surprised when I heard that the charge was changed from murder to manslaughter," she said. "It is a great pity it wasn't murder. I believe it was. The people responsible murdered him. The cold-blooded murder of Gerry McCabe and the shooting of Ben O'Sullivan does not come under the terms of the Good Friday agreement. The fact is that all those involved must serve out their full sentences. It would be a fallacy of justice if anything else were to happen. These people murdered a member of the Garda Siochana in the course of his duty. It's a very serious offence. The Government always made it clear those convicted of the murder must not be released."
Last night Ms Harney told Irish-Australians at the reception at a converted wool-shed outside Sydney that last year 44,000 people had returned to Ireland and that the country was "booming".
The woolshed is an extension to a popular Irish pub called the Mean Fiddler, owned by Mrs Breege Tuite from Cullyhanna, Co Armagh and situated beside Vinegar Hill, where Irish prisoners fought against their British captors in the 1798 period.
Sydney has 30,000 Irish-born people out of a total of 80,000 Irish-born in Australia. Earlier the Tanaiste toured the site for the 2000 Olympic Games where over 2,000 Irish workers are involved in the construction work.