Taoiseach hopes SF will help end policing dispute

Dail Report: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he welcomed indications from Sinn Féin of a willingness to see the matter of recognition of the PSNI resolved.

"If that can be achieved, and I believe it can, then trust and confidence will follow and the devolution of policing and justice to the Executive can be achieved by May 2008," he added.

"All of this would be profoundly beneficial for the process and help guarantee the stability and security that Northern Ireland so badly needs."

Mr Ahern said that all the issues which the governments addressed at St Andrews were important. "However, everyone in the House will recognise the importance of full support by all for the policing and criminal justice institutions."

Opening a series of statements on the North, Mr Ahern said there would be further discussions in the new programme for government committee regarding policing and the rule of law in the context of the pledge of office that was envisaged.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said he had always been, and would remain, a fervent opponent of the Provisional IRA. As Minister for Justice, it had been his duty to highlight the unacceptable activities of the movement, even when on ceasefire, particularly regarding criminality, he said.

"For my troubles, I was criticised as an enemy of the peace process, but the truth is that the spotlight which was shone by government on those activities has helped that movement to face up to these issues.

"Sinn Féin's past, its outlook and very mindset may be politically distant to me and many others but, particularly against the background of the development in St Andrews, the impediments to Sinn Féin being in the Executive in the North no longer exist."

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said it appeared as if all the parties recognised that full and unconditional support for the police and the justice system was essential if there was to be a durable settlement.

"It should be remembered, however, that the St Andrews Agreement is an agreement between the two governments and that reaching agreement between the parties is a far greater challenge." He expressed concern about "side deals", which would lessen the impact of all the parties wanting to get on with the business.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte suggested the deadlines set by the two governments may be too ambitious. There were multiple issues about timing and sequencing which were still unresolved. It was becoming harder and harder to make out what had been agreed in St Andrews and by whom.

"And this is all because the St Andrews Agreement is not, in fact, yet, an agreement at all. It is an announcement by the two governments of an indicative timetable for a process that they hope will lead to agreement."

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent expressed concern that another referendum might take from the fundamental significance of the Belfast Agreement which the Irish people viewed as the cornerstone of the process.

Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said it needed to be stressed that the St Andrews document was an agreement between the two governments. "The parties have not signed up to it. Much remains to be worked out between the parties," he said.