Good Friday pact is still the key to North's future

This week is an important one for those of us who have been working intensively to secure the restoration of the institutions…

This week is an important one for those of us who have been working intensively to secure the restoration of the institutions of the Good Friday agreement.  Partnership and the Good Friday agreement are crucial for any agreement in the North, writes Dermot Ahern.

The governments have outlined to the parties the proposals which we believe have the capacity to break the impasse.

I hope they will give careful thought and consideration to these proposals, and then proceed to move forward with a comprehensive agreement that resolves all of the key issues.

Whatever happens in the days and weeks ahead, both governments will continue to discharge their responsibilities under the agreement.

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Recent comments concerning the question of possible Plan B scenarios for Northern Ireland raised a number of issues which ought to be clarified. That clarification is particularly necessary lest it be construed as a tacit indication that Plan A is off the table. As far as the Irish Government is concerned, Plan A - the achievement of a comprehensive agreement definitively ending paramilitarism and restoring the full operation of the institutions of the agreement - remains our urgent and immediate objective. Our focus must be kept on the agreement.

As regard the question of joint authority, which has been mentioned as a substitute for devolved government, I would emphasise that the full realisation of peace, partnership and reconciliation can best be achieved by the parties working collectively together, rather than by the two governments acting as proxies. Successful partnership politics is what we need to secure - both within Northern Ireland and between both parts of the island.

In their joint statement of October 14th, 2002, following suspension, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, recognised this reality. They expressed their belief that the political institutions of the agreement offered "the only means whereby Northern Ireland can be governed in the best interests of both communities".

However, in the absence of a political basis for the full operation of these institutions, they also committed the two governments "to work closely together, including through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, in a way which reflects the principles of the agreement and which protects and develops its achievements".

This imperative of protecting the achievements of the agreement was the driving force behind the 2002 legislation relating to the operation of the North-South implementation bodies. Its purpose was to provide a statutory basis to allow necessary decisions to be taken by both governments in regard to the implementation bodies during the period where, as a result of suspension, the North/South Ministerial Council could not meet.

Given the important public functions discharged by these bodies in the interests of people in both parts of the island, it was essential that there were clear lines of political control and accountability during the hiatus caused by suspension.

As the Taoiseach indicated at the time, it was not the intention of the Government that these temporary and remedial arrangements should be in place on a long-term basis. While the hiatus may have been longer than originally anticipated, it remains the case that the governments are continuing to work together for the early restoration of the institutions of the agreement, thereby obviating the need for the temporary arrangements in regard to the North/South bodies.

It is also worth pointing out that, despite the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the East-West arrangements of the agreement continue to operate. In fact, another summit meeting of the British-Irish Council will take place in Guernsey later this week. As in the previous five summit meetings of the council, the Irish delegation will again be led by the Taoiseach. During suspension, Northern Ireland's interests within the British-Irish Council are currently represented by the British government.

When he introduced the temporary North/South legislation in the Dáil in 2002, the Taoiseach stressed the vital distinction that, while the Northern Assembly might be suspended, the Good Friday agreement was not. The Good Friday agreement was solemnly endorsed by the people in both parts of the island; under the British-Irish Agreement both governments committed themselves to support and, where appropriate, implement its provisions; and, in this jurisdiction, we changed our Constitution to take account of its constitutional provisions.

The political institutions of the agreement represent its democratic core and are therefore hugely important. Both governments have made every effort to establish a political basis for their full and inclusive operation.

However, irrespective of whether we succeed or fail in the short-term, both governments will continue to discharge all their obligations under the agreement, including in the vital areas of policing, criminal justice, security normalisation, equality, human rights, community relations and dealing with the past.

In addressing this wide agenda, we will fully avail of the machinery that is provided for in the agreement itself. In this regard, the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference provides an essential forum for co-operation and consultation between both governments on non-devolved matters. In a context where devolution is suspended, the conference clearly has an increased scope and importance.

As indicated at the outset, both governments remain focused on the achievement of Plan A. In the immediate days ahead we will intensify our efforts to achieve that comprehensive agreement that addresses all of the key issues. If we do not succeed, the Taoiseach and Prime Minister will take stock of what needs to be done to manage what might be a prolonged period before another opportunity for a comprehensive agreement presents itself.

It would not be helpful at this stage to speculate on what they might decide in such a context. However, in any such scenario, the joint statement of the Taoiseach and Prime Minster on October 14th, 2002, continues to be valid: "The agreement remains the template for political progress . . . and is the only sustainable basis for a fair and honourable accommodation between unionists and nationalists."

Dermot Ahern TD is Minister for Foreign Affairs