PRESS CONFERENCE:THE BELFAST Agreement is still an "evolving situation" and "investment, renewal and better opportunities" are now needed in Northern Ireland, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference following a symposium in Belfast yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of the agreement, he said: "The next phase is economic development, and that's the same all over the world, not just here in Northern Ireland. You have to be generating new ideas.
"Everywhere the challenge is generating new investment ... and I just hope Northern Ireland can do that because that's what you need so young people ... can have a real life and opportunity."
Sen George Mitchell admitted the implementation of the accord's provisions had taken longer than he anticipated. "The agreement was an historic step - a political compromise - but the best that we could do at that time.
"It probably took a little bit longer than I had anticipated ... but one of the things I learned through this process is the importance of patience ...," he said.
Asked to place the compromise of the agreement alongside his stated republicanism, the Taoiseach replied: "I've spent half my life as a member of the Fianna Fáil party, whose first objective is that we eventually see a united Ireland.
"It's our view that would best be achieved on the basis of consent, and by working together to build up an island economy, and working on our North-South relationships, and somewhere in the future I hope that we achieve that."
Gen John de Chastelain, the head of the body that oversaw the decommissioning of IRA weapons, was asked if he could foresee genuine peace in the absence of a similar move by loyalist groups.
"For a long time in this part of the world people have said things such as, 'Not one bullet, not one ounce', 'We will never give our arms up', or even 'You'll only take my gun from my cold dead hands'. But things do happen, and we're here to make them happen, and we will continue to do that.
"While it is of course fundamental that in a democratic society there are no armed groups other than those sanctioned by the government, I am encouraged by the fact that the ceasefires are in place. If the arms have not been put beyond use, they are at least not being used today by paramilitaries," said Gen de Chastelain.
Sen Mitchell was asked his opinion on the DUP's decision to view the St Andrews Agreement as fundamentally different to the Belfast Agreement. "There is enough room in history for different views and for different analyses of past events," he said.