The Taoiseach told the House that little progress has been made on the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in the North.

Asked by the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, if any progress had been made on the issue, Mr Ahern replied: "To any positive extent, no. What has been going on has been background work, and I cannot report anything positive out of that."

The international body on decommissioning had been endeavouring to move its workload ahead and had been talking to the various parties in great detail. But he could not report on precisely what it was trying to construct. Replying to the Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, he said he hoped that in the cool light of day, people would see that decommissioning was the only issue left, subject to nothing else going wrong, and some confidence-building measure was required.

"From my point of view, it would be an entirely unreasonable position for people not to give way and allow the blockage to move." Mr Ahern said he hoped that before Christmas they would have reached a position where the Assembly was up and running, with proper participation in the executive. Hopefully, the implementation bodies would be agreed and the areas for co-operation would be specified.

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, asked the Taoiseach if he had informed the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, at their meeting last Friday of his view that the movement towards an united Ireland had an irresistible dynamic. Mr Ahern said he had not discussed the matter with Mr Trimble at that meeting, but they both had exchanged their respective views several times. "Needless to say, they are not the same view."

Pressed further by Mr Quinn, the Taoiseach said that he had not used the words "irresistible dynamic". He added that the principle of consent governed every thing. "Constitutional change, or for that matter a continuation of the status quo established by the agreement, will depend on consent and peaceful persuasion."

What was important, said Mr Ahern, was that the agreement was working. "To a large extent, the future will take care of itself." He added: "I defend very staunchly in this House that the national viewpoint cannot be suppressed."

Mr De Rossa said he did not believe anybody was arguing for a viewpoint to be suppressed. But there was a desirability that the Taoiseach of the day would be conscious of the process in which he was engaged on behalf of the people of the State. Words used by the Taoiseach, which might reinforce the view that the Belfast Agreement might have a possible dynamic towards the agreement of an united Ireland, ought to be avoided. Mr Ahern said the principle of consent governed everything. "What the people do in 15 or 20 years is a good question. I do not think we should get ourselves too bothered about it."

When Mr Blair had visited the North and expressed his view about the union, "I do not get too excited about it." Mr Ahern said he believed that as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fail he had spoken last weekend in mild terms.

Mr Bruton said one of the big problems in the North was suspicion and the feeling that there was a hidden agenda behind the agreement. Notwithstanding the obligations which the Taoiseach had as a party leader, it might have been better for Mr Ahern to avoid speculation which could fuel unjustified suspicions. Mr Ahern said that Mr Bruton made some sense about fears and suspicions. "That works two ways. I think members of this House could get very exercised every day of the week, particularly if you read the letter columns of the papers . . ."

He added: "There is one thing I have learned about Northern Ireland people in my political lifetime. They like people to be straight. They do not like people being under counters and dodging questions. But the reality in this situation is that the principle of consent governs everything."