Irish and British governments must refocus efforts on the North, says Gerry Adams

THE Irish and British governments should refocus their efforts to defend the political process in the North and to ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday and subsequent agreements as we approach this Sunday’s 20th anniversary of the historic and groundbreaking IRA cessation of 1994, Gerry Adams has said.

Speaking at the Dáil, the Sinn Féin leader noted that that decision by the IRA leadership opened up the potential of the peace process, eventually leading to the Good Friday Agreement.

“The direct involvement of the Irish and British Governments and the support of the US Administration was crucial to that achievement,” the former MP for West Belfast recalled.

Now a TD for Louth, Gerry Adams said:

“The same level of engagement is now required to deal with those outstanding issues which have bedeviled the political process and which threaten the progress that has been made since.

“However, neither the British Government or unionist political leaders have shown any commitment to substantive negotiations on these issues.

“There is now a strongly anti-Agreement axis within political unionism.

“This negative axis has been encouraged by the refusal of the British Government to honour its own obligations and its efforts to impose draconian cuts in the welfare system.

“The North's political institutions now face their most serious challenge for many years.

“Regrettably, the Irish Government has been far too passive in pursuing a pro-Agreement agenda.

“The Irish and British governments, as co-equal guarantors of the Agreement, must ensure that outstanding issues are implemented.

“I am calling on both governments to urgently refocus their efforts to defend the political process and ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements.”