THE ghost of Brian Faulkner, the former unionist leader, was invoked by Dr Maurice Hayes (Ind) to emphasise the need to seize the current opportunities for permanent peace on this island.
Dr Hayes said he had recently read a reference by Lady Faulkner. "She said that after the Sunningdale Agreement, he said it would be 20 years before we got a chance like it again. It has, in fact, been 25 years. The prospect before us is to seize the hour and move ahead or lose the impetus."
Welcoming the Bill providing for the establishment of the North-South and British-Irish structures envisaged in the Belfast Agreement, Dr Hayes said he hoped structures would be built in to ensure that there was parliamentary accountability on both sides of the Border.
"It is a voyage of discovery in many ways," he said. "People must learn to trust each other, and these are concrete areas in which to make a beginning."
The agreement represented an enormous step forward, but they were building the framework for peace, not peace itself, and it would require constant attention, monitoring, encouragement and enthusiasm. The Belfast Agreement was a seminal document, and it would be viewed for a long time to come as a new approach to dealing with nation and state differences.
"We must now move forward in the spirit of the agreement. In a sense, we must, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, begin to bind up the wounds of a nation. As Louis MacNeice's father said some 60 years ago, we must begin to put the things of the past and the things which divide us behind us and concentrate on those things which bring us together. It may have taken 60 years for the penny to drop, but we do, at last, seem to have a receptive audience. This is a day for hope and it is a good day to be here."
Commending the Bill to the House, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, described it as a further step, and a significant one, along the road of implementing the agreement. "It is about co-operation and partnership. More than anything else, it is about a new beginning on this island. It is about ensuring that never again will it be blighted by conflict.
"By working together on practical matters of common concern and interest, we give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving that goal. Much progress has been made in implementing the agreement. We still have some way to go. We all know the nature of the remaining problems. Let us redouble our efforts in the coming days and weeks to overcome these. The prize is very great indeed, and it is in sight."
Several senators praised the co-operation between the Garda and the RUC. Ms Avril Doyle said she would like to commend the excellent relations between the two forces. "Both these organisations continued to have a close relationship during the difficult times when it was neither profitable nor popular for either of them. Now there is a synergy between them. All citizens in both jurisdictions benefited from this."
Marking the passage of the Bill, Mr Andrews described it as a historic measure which charted a new framework for a new co-operation on the island. He thanked the Opposition for the very constructive approach it had taken.
The Leas-Cathaoirleach, Mr Liam Cosgrave, praised all those who had contributed to the advancement of the search for a lasting settlement.