4 December 1997 Edition
Real dialogue in London
``A welcome opportunity for real dialogue,'' was how Caoimhghín O Caoláin described his participation in the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body Plenary Meeting in London this week. The Cavan-Monaghan TD is the first ever Sinn Féin representative on the body.
The visit saw a number of firsts for O Caoláin, including a tour of the House of Commons and House of Lords. More significantly it was the first occasion on which a SF elected representative had an opportunity for public debate with British Secretary of State Mo Mowlam.
On Monday afternoon Mo Mowlam addressed the meeting on the current negotiations. In a question to her Caoimhghín O Caoláin asked ``if she acknowledged the need to make progress in the negotiations at Stormont and on substantive measures of equality and confidence-building, notably in the area of demilitarisation and prisoners''. Unhappy with the Mowlam's reply which was in very general terms, the Deputy asked what steps ``specifically do you envisage your government taking to secure a focused and fully engaged talks process?'' He also asked if she agreed that movement on the prisoners issue was essential.
Among others to raise the issue of prisoners were Norman Godman (Labour MP), Senators Joe Costelloe and Edward Haughey, and Charles Flanagan. In response Mowlam said that she wished that all prison-related issues could be addressed before Christmas and that two-thirds of all lifers would be out on parole over the Christmas period.
The second plenary session was held on Tuesday and dealt with a motion commending both governments on their ``determination in pursuit of a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland''. O Caoláin moved an amendment which sought to ensure that the motion both reflected the three-stranded approach of the talks process and removed the offending prescriptive reference to a ``lasting settlement in Northern Ireland''. He stated that a simple commendation was not enough:
``This body's role should be to spur on both governments and all parties to greater efforts and to seek to remove all obstacles and ensure real and substantive negotiations. We need to inject a sense of urgency into the situation. Not all parties at the talks table are engaging. Equal resolve needs to be shown by the British government in implementing measures of equality, justice and confidence-building, a responsibility also of the Dublin government, and in urging on unionists the necessity to embrace change.
``The British government itself must also embrace change. Its task is to transform its relationship with the Irish people. The constitutional legislation which has underpinned the failed entity of the Six Counties - the Government of Ireland Act and the Northern Ireland Constitution Act must be repealed. We need a new political and constitutional dispensation.
``The scope of a settlement must be wider than the Six Counties. It must encompass the whole of the island of Ireland. It must create a new relationship between Ireland and Britain.''
O Caoláin chose not to press his amendment when responding to members' contributions at the close of the two-hour debate, avoiding a division in the Body at the first meeting of its new term. He stated that while he would at all times confront members with the politics of conflict resolution and the issues at the heart of the conflict, it was not his intent to foment division in the body and he would accordingly withdraw his amendment and abstain on the tabled motion. One other Irish delegate, Conor Lenihan, took the same position.
It is expected that the next plenary meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body will be held next March in Ballyconnell, County Cavan.
The visit saw a number of firsts for O Caoláin, including a tour of the House of Commons and House of Lords. More significantly it was the first occasion on which a SF elected representative had an opportunity for public debate with British Secretary of State Mo Mowlam.
On Monday afternoon Mo Mowlam addressed the meeting on the current negotiations. In a question to her Caoimhghín O Caoláin asked ``if she acknowledged the need to make progress in the negotiations at Stormont and on substantive measures of equality and confidence-building, notably in the area of demilitarisation and prisoners''. Unhappy with the Mowlam's reply which was in very general terms, the Deputy asked what steps ``specifically do you envisage your government taking to secure a focused and fully engaged talks process?'' He also asked if she agreed that movement on the prisoners issue was essential.
Among others to raise the issue of prisoners were Norman Godman (Labour MP), Senators Joe Costelloe and Edward Haughey, and Charles Flanagan. In response Mowlam said that she wished that all prison-related issues could be addressed before Christmas and that two-thirds of all lifers would be out on parole over the Christmas period.
The second plenary session was held on Tuesday and dealt with a motion commending both governments on their ``determination in pursuit of a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland''. O Caoláin moved an amendment which sought to ensure that the motion both reflected the three-stranded approach of the talks process and removed the offending prescriptive reference to a ``lasting settlement in Northern Ireland''. He stated that a simple commendation was not enough:
``This body's role should be to spur on both governments and all parties to greater efforts and to seek to remove all obstacles and ensure real and substantive negotiations. We need to inject a sense of urgency into the situation. Not all parties at the talks table are engaging. Equal resolve needs to be shown by the British government in implementing measures of equality, justice and confidence-building, a responsibility also of the Dublin government, and in urging on unionists the necessity to embrace change.
``The British government itself must also embrace change. Its task is to transform its relationship with the Irish people. The constitutional legislation which has underpinned the failed entity of the Six Counties - the Government of Ireland Act and the Northern Ireland Constitution Act must be repealed. We need a new political and constitutional dispensation.
``The scope of a settlement must be wider than the Six Counties. It must encompass the whole of the island of Ireland. It must create a new relationship between Ireland and Britain.''
O Caoláin chose not to press his amendment when responding to members' contributions at the close of the two-hour debate, avoiding a division in the Body at the first meeting of its new term. He stated that while he would at all times confront members with the politics of conflict resolution and the issues at the heart of the conflict, it was not his intent to foment division in the body and he would accordingly withdraw his amendment and abstain on the tabled motion. One other Irish delegate, Conor Lenihan, took the same position.
It is expected that the next plenary meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body will be held next March in Ballyconnell, County Cavan.