It will be possible to restore devolution to Northern Ireland by next year if the IRA continues to demonstrate that it has ended activity, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday during a visit to Belfast and Newtownards.
Mr Ahern, during what was viewed as a bridge-building visit to Northern Ireland, said the Irish "constitutional question is settled" and that there was no workable political alternative to the Belfast Agreement.
The Taoiseach also paid a symbolic visit to the Somme Heritage Centre in Newtownards where he acknowledged that Irish people had for years not properly commemorated Irish soldiers who died fighting in the British army during the first World War.
Political opinion appears divided over whether the Northern Executive and Assembly could be restored by next year if the IRA honours its commitments or whether DUP procrastination and caution would delay any such possible progress until sometime in 2007.
Mr Ahern, in his main address to the Institute of Directors (IOD) at the Culloden Hotel near Belfast and in a question and answer session with reporters at the same venue, said a deal should be possible by next year.
"If indeed it is the case that all IRA paramilitary and criminal activities have been brought to an end, then I believe that re-establishment of devolved government is achievable," he added.
"It is time for everyone to begin to face forward and try and move on. I hope that we are approaching the point when real and lasting progress can be made. There should be no undue delay. I have made no secret of my wish to see the devolved institutions restored as soon as practicable in 2006. Political paralysis is not an option in a fast-moving world," the Taoiseach said.
He welcomed the LVF standing-down statement and hoped other loyalist groups would follow suit. He told reporters that sufficient progress was being made in relation to politics and ending paramilitarism to enable the restoration of devolution by next year.
"That's my view based on all that has happened this year, based on the successes we have had," he said. "Obviously there is going to be some delay but I can't see when we get into springtime, and things are still moving right, why we have any further difficulties," the Taoiseach added.
In comments perceived as seeking to encourage unionist support for the political process Mr Ahern told the IOD: "The constitutional question is now settled. The use of violence to achieve a united Ireland is a thing of the past. Many people, including myself, aspire to a united Ireland. But it will not happen without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland.
"The agreement is a unique and enabling instrument. Despite all the ups and downs it has brought us a long way," he said.