The former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, has called for a written bill of rights for the two communities in Northern Ireland "as a confidence-building measure in the early part of the talks". He said guaranteeing the rights of both communities would be a first step in resolving the conflict.
"The Protestant and unionist community need a bill of rights to protect their rights to British citizenship and their heritage and traditions in any new accommodation. The nationalists require a similar bill of rights to provide parity of esteem for their Irishness and their tradition," he said.
Mr Reynolds was giving an annual lecture as part of the West Belfast Festival in honour of Mr Paddy McGrory, a solicitor known for his civil rights work, who died in 1994. He also called for an independent commission to look at "the equalisation of laws" for both communities in the early stages of political talks, due to begin on September 15th. He said the British government should also order a new inquiry into Bloody Sunday.
Referring to the breakdown of the last IRA ceasefire, he said it was "unfortunate that two years were wasted and lives lost. We have another opportunity and this time I hope it will not be wasted". He said there needed to be compromise on all sides and he believed "visionaries" existed within both communities who would "seek out and build a just and lasting settlement".
In response to questions from the audience, Mr Reynolds said any attempt to have Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution changed in advance of an overall agreement would be "futile". He said the former Ulster Unionist leader, Mr James Molyneaux, had come to realise this, and that he was disappointed when the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, again took up this "futile argument". "But he soon learned," he said.
Mr Reynolds also said he would not be opposed to Northern nationalists being represented in the Dail, adding that he had also offered unionists Dail representation ail as part of an overall settlement.