Ahern, Mitchell stress people's wish for peace

The decision to bar Orangemen from marching on the Garvaghy Road this weekend was welcomed yesterday by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.

He was in Tipperary town to attend a ceremony to honour US Senator George Mitchell, who said that despite the current tensions, he had no doubt that Northern Ireland had turned a corner in its search for a durable peace.

"I've believed that for some time. There is no doubt in my mind that the direction is now fixed and firmly set," Mr Mitchell said.

"There is equally no doubt that there will be setbacks, there will be controversies, difficulties, obstacles. But the overriding fact is that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland want peace and political stability."

Senator Mitchell was present to receive the 1999 Tipperary International Peace Award in recognition of the pivotal role he played in bringing peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ahern, speaking to reporters before the presentation of the award, said he was pleased there would again be no march on the Garvaghy Road. This was important for the nationalist community in the area.

He believed all of the outstanding matters should be dealt with through negotiation and dialogue, and there was now a political context for that to happen, with the political institutions reestablished and the executive working well.

If the Orange Order listened to what the Parades Commission was saying, there would be a moratorium on all of the events surrounding Drumcree, he said.

"It is an intolerable situation that it's not just a question of a march on one weekend, or an attempted march on one weekend, but now it's two weekends, then it's every night, then it's all over the North."

There were still sharp differences and much mistrust, he added, "but the reality is that people don't want to go back to the bitterness and violence of the past."

Paying tribute to Senator Mitchell, the Taoiseach said the people of Ireland would always be deeply in his debt. The Belfast Agreement was a tribute to his chairmanship, skills and vision and he had displayed "tremendous patience, dignity and resourcefulness", as well as good humour, in helping to bring it about.

Senator Mitchell, who was presented with a specially commissioned piece of Waterford crystal, said he was not accepting the award as an individual, but as a representative of all of those who had dedicated their entire lives to the cause of peace in Northern Ireland, and not just the "few years" he had devoted "to this noble and just cause".

Others present for the ceremony in the Canon Hayes recreation centre included the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, and the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume.