THE TRANSFER of powers over policing and justice from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly must take place quickly, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday.
"The maintenance of law and order is a fundamental task of any democratic administration," Mr Ahern told a British/Irish Studies Conference in University College, Dublin.
The devolution of powers was needed to "build on the peaceful environment" which had been created, leaving locally-elected representatives in charge of tackling street crime and ensuring that people felt safe in their homes.
"This is an absolutely integral part of the agreement at St Andrews that led to powersharing and all-party support for policing. It should be implemented in good faith for that reason alone. It will be the last piece in the jigsaw that will give us the durable peace and prosperity we have been working for all these years," said Mr Ahern, who added that he had discussed the issue in a call on Wednesday with British prime minister Gordon Brown.
Reflecting on the negotiations which led to the Belfast Agreement, and the events since, Mr Ahern said it was natural to emphasise the areas where progress had been made. "However, we must not be complacent, there are still challenges ahead."
Loyalist paramilitaries were beginning to transform, but they had unfortunately not decommissioned, and a minority remained "wedded to criminality", he told the conference, which was chaired by Maurice Manning, head of the Irish Human Rights Commission.
"For our part, we remain committed to helping loyalist communities move beyond the conflict of the past and to share in the peace and prosperity which is the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland. We applaud the leadership shown by many people in those communities who are moving on and are working daily with the rest of us to make a better future," said the Taoiseach, who received a standing ovation at the end of his speech.
Referring to republican dissidents, Mr Ahern said: "There are also small, unrepresentative groups on the other side who would propel us all back to a time of despair and anguish. They will continue to face the full rigour of the law on both sides of the Border."
Focusing on the work still to be done, the Taoiseach pointed to the "massive programme of joint investment" taking place in Northern Ireland, with the help of money from the Republic, including new roads between Dublin and the north-west.
Cross-Border co-operation on developing the north-west of the island would bring a "holistic approach" to local government, industrial promotion, transport and spatial planning, workers' training and public services.
The Government and the Northern Executive were combining to secure EU research funding, while closer ties were also being forged between the University of Ulster and Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
The creation of a single electricity market was already a reality and was a "crucial step in addressing our future economic prosperity and in linking us into the British and wider European energy systems".
A major conference would be held later this year to accelerate plans to enable people to work on either side of the Border with as few hindrances as possible.
Mr Ahern also said that many commitments made in the final days of negotiating the Belfast Agreement involved "difficult" and "unpalatable" choices for the negotiators.