A chara, - It would appear from the statements made to date by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in relation to decommissioning, that the Irish Government intends to uphold the Unionist veto against all comers, thereby effectively ditching the Belfast Agreement.
As your columnist John Waters pointed out once again (January 26th), rather than remind Mr Trimble that the Belfast Agreement does not refer to decommissioning as a confidence-building measure or a pre-condition, Bertie Ahern (aided by Tony Blair and most of the Southern political/ media establishment) has indulged Unionist obstructionism to the point of undermining the Agreement which he and Blair so vociferously endorsed. Specific deadlines stipulated in the Agreement have been allowed to slip by both governments. Meanwhile David Trimble has trumpeted his "success" in ensuring minimalist functions of the North-South bodies, removing inward investment from the Trade Promotion, Business Development and Inward Investment Body, and gaining control of the Equality "portfolio"; no challenge in this instance to these transgressions of the "spirit of the Agreement", to use that phrase now so in vogue with some political leaders and media commentators.
The Belfast Agreement was hailed by Ahern and Blair not only as an "historic" agreement but as the "the only way forward". In the North, the electorate was asked to vote for it on that basis. In the South, the electorate was encouraged to accept radical changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution which, among other things, allow the Multi-Party Agreement to be implemented. It is timely to remind An Taoiseach of what he wrote in an article published in this paper on May 1st, 1998: ". . . . as a safeguard, the amendments to our Constitution are framed in such a way that they are conditional on the successful completion of all the other steps necessary to bring the Agreement into force, the new Articles will only replace the old ones if a referendum is successful in Northern Ireland, and at the same time as all the new institutions - including the North-South Ministerial Council and the initial implementation bodies - come into operation".
It is evident that all the necessary measures are not being undertaken to implement all the provisions of the Multi-Party Agreement and that by effectively underwriting the Unionist position on decommissioning, the two governments are in breach of their own legally-binding Agreement. - Is mise, Sile Carson,
PRO, Irish National Congress, PO Box 2814, Dublin 7.