Time to 'stop the rhetoric', Ahern tells NI parties

Political parties that had "garnered and borrowed" votes on the back of the Northern Ireland peace process must now follow up their promises with action, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said.

It was time for all parties in the North to move on and "stop the rhetoric" so the business of building a lasting peace could continue, he said.

"What this Government wants to do is to find a way to move forward. We have lost so much time, lost so many months, and time is of the essence if we are to make progress."

Mr Ahern was speaking at the annual Fianna Fáil Easter Rising commemoration at Arbour Hill, in Dublin, yesterday.

It was time, he said, for private armies to retire and for all republicans to embrace the constitutional principles of the Good Friday agreement. "Democratic politics and institutions cannot work with integrity alongside continuing illegal paramilitary activity. Public confidence must be restored."

Parties had earned votes on the promise of the peace process but were "not following up with the necessary action". The period for maintaining "polite fictions and Chinese walls" had expired, he said.

"It is time to move beyond the Chinese walls. I have delivered on my responsibilities, no matter how hard they are." It was time, he said, for others to do likewise.

The months lost to the peace process were of particular concern as the marching season approached, he said. There were still some "dangerous people" around the fringes of certain movements, as demonstrated by the sectarian attacks during the last fortnight. Such elements could not be allowed to win.

"There can no longer be a halfway house between the Armalite and the ballot box." This was a realisation that all sides must come to immediately, he added.

"Both governments will continue to work tirelessly, even in unpromising conditions, for an agreement on moving forward to the final stage and completion of the peace process. Enough time has passed."

The Easter Rising commemoration began with Mass in Arbour Hill church at noon. Some 200 people, led by the St James's Brass and Reed Band, walked to the cemetery behind the church, where 14 of the 1916 leaders are buried.

Two extra Easter lilies were placed on the graves, the extra two representing the bodies of Roger Casement, buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, and Thomas Kent, buried in Cork Prison.