[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1529-S1531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          RECENT DEVELOPMENTS TOWARD PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, much has happened since the Irish 
Republican Army broke its cease-fire with two bloody bombings in 
London. Those cowardly acts cast doubt on the viability of the entire 
peace process. But the people rose up en mass, as I had a feeling they 
would. Tens of thousands demonstrated in the streets of Dublin and 
elsewhere, demanding that the perpetrators of the violence give them 
back their peace.
  Responding to the will of the people, the Irish and British 
Governments reached agreement on a way forward, including a date of 
June 10 for full-party talks. The peace process is back on track and 
moving ahead, and Sinn Fein and the IRA should waste no time in seizing 
this opportunity. Their participation is needed if lasting peace is to 
be achieved. As Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring said in an eloquent 
speech to the Dail Eireann on February 29, the ``fixed date surely now 
offers the basic assurances that the republican movement has sought. 
Given the intolerable human cost, and the grave political damage caused 
by the violence to date, how can the IRA explain the continuation, for 
one more day, of its renewed campaign?''
  Mr. President, Foreign Minister Spring has been on a relentless quest 
for peace in Northern Ireland for much of his distinguished career. I 
know his hopes were dashed when the IRA ended its cease-fire, as were 
all of ours. But he did not lose hope. He persevered, and we all owe 
him and Prime Minister John Bruton our support and admiration for their 
determination, their fairness, and their commitment to a better life 
for all the people on that island.
  I ask that Foreign Minister Spring's February 29 speech be printed in 
the Record.
  The speech follows:

  Statement by Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dick Spring, 
                     Dail Eireann, 29 February 1996

       The British and Irish Governments have long shared a common 
     analysis and a common objective: a comprehensive political 
     settlement based on consent. We have also been united in 
     agreement that this objective can only be attained through 
     all party negotiations addressing comprehensively all the 
     relevant relationships and issues in an inter-locking three-
     stranded process. The necessity for all-party negotiations is 
     also appreciated by all parties in Northern Ireland.
       Where they, and we, have differed, has been on how to 
     proceed into such negotiations. Was it possible to ensure 
     that, on the one

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     hand, all parties could enter into such negotiations freely, 
     on a basis of equality, and without prejudice to their 
     fundamental aspirations, and, on the other hand, that all 
     could negotiate in full confidence that there was a basic 
     commitment all round to exclusively peaceful methods and to 
     the democratic process?
       This conundrum has dominated discussions between the two 
     Governments, and wider debate, for the last year. It has been 
     a difficult and frustrating period. Disputes over a wide 
     range of complex and interconnected, but ultimately 
     secondary, issues have been permitted to obscure the 
     fundamental point, that there is an overwhelming consensus 
     for peace, and for agreement between the people who share 
     this island. Debate about questions of substance has been 
     crowded out by debate about questions of procedure.
       The appalling prospect that the peace process might run 
     into the sands has loomed before us. In their mass 
     demonstrations last Sunday, the people underlined their 
     determination that this could not be allowed to happen. Even 
     before yesterday's Communique was written, the wider Irish 
     public had demonstrated that the peace does indeed belong to 
     all the people.
       The two Governments agreed at the end of November that is 
     was their firm aim to launch all-party negotiations by the 
     end of February--that is, today. A clear and unalterable 
     timetable leading to negotiations on 10 June has now been put 
     in place. The timescale now envisaged is consistent with the 
     implications of an elective process, the possibility of which 
     was signalled in the November communique.
       The essential point agreed at the summit is that there is a 
     fixed date on which all-party negotiations will begin. This 
     is a firm and unambiguous commitment. Neither Government has 
     sought to enter any qualifications, to hedge or to 
     equivocate.
       We now see a definite commitment that the two Governments 
     and the Northern parties will sit down together to begin to 
     fashion that lasting settlement which is required to underpin 
     peace and to allow for a new beginning in all three core 
     relationships.
       The need for negotiations has been acknowledged on all 
     sides. We want them because, objectively, they are necessary. 
     They would be necessary even if the paramilitary 
     organizations had never existed, because there is a political 
     conflict that must be resolved.
       Nor can the will of the people for negotiations leading to 
     an agreement founded on consent be thwarted by violence. The 
     Taoiseach and the Prime Minister resolved that neither 
     violence, nor the threat of violence, would be allowed to 
     influence the course of negotiations, or preparations for 
     negotiations. They also agreed that the IRA's abandonment of 
     its cessation of violence was a fundamental breach of the 
     declared basis on which both Governments had engaged Sinn 
     Fein in political dialogue. They reiterated what has already 
     been stated more than once in this House, that the resumption 
     of full political dialogue with Sinn Fein requires the 
     restoration of the ceasefire.
       The vast majority of the people of Ireland, North and 
     South, who utterly repudiate the use of violence for any 
     purpose whatever, can be assured that there will be no 
     bending of the principle that violence has no place in any 
     political process.
       Equally, the Governments have emphasized that they are 
     determined to press on in the search for political agreement, 
     irrespective of whether the republican movement makes it 
     possible for Sinn Fein to rejoin that quest or not.
       Nevertheless, a fundamental objective of the peace process 
     has always been to offer a meaningful political alternative 
     to violence. Negotiations conducted on a fully inclusive 
     basis, and in the absence both of violence and of security 
     counter-measures, have always seemed more likely in the long 
     run to produce a stable agreement in which all could 
     acquiesce. It is the hope of the two Governments, 
     accordingly, that the negotiations will be fully inclusive, 
     with all parties being able to participate in them. We call 
     on Sinn Fein, and the IRA, to make Sinn Fein's participation 
     in the process of such negotiations possible.
       On 15 February, the President of Sinn Fein said that ``the 
     absence of negotiations led to the breakdown. The 
     commencement of negotiations therefore provides the way 
     forward. Any new process must contain copperfastened and 
     unambiguous public assurances that all party talks will be 
     initiated by both Governments at the earliest possible 
     date.''
       All-party negotiations will begin on 10 June. While many 
     would have wished for an earlier date, we wanted to be sure 
     that the appointed date was realistic and could be fixed 
     without doubt. This fixed date surely now offers the basic 
     assurances that the republican movement has sought. Given the 
     intolerable human cost, and the grave political damage caused 
     by the violence to date, how can the IRA explain the 
     continuation, for one more day, of its renewed campaign? It 
     is up to it to decide its own course. I cannot pretend to 
     know how the minds of its leaders work. But I expect that all 
     those with influence upon it will do what they can to point 
     out to it the straightforward and positive implications of 
     agreement on a fixed date and timetable for negotiations.
       The Taoiseach and the Prime Minister both recognized that 
     confidence building measures will be necessary in the course 
     of all-party negotiations. Negotiations are a dynamic 
     process, depending on the interplay of personalities and 
     arguments, and not a matter of static calculation. As one 
     such measure, all participants would need to make clear at 
     the beginning of negotiations their total and absolute 
     commitment to the principles of democracy and non-violence 
     set out in the Mitchell Report. These principles offer 
     essential guarantees that negotiations will not be affected 
     by violence or by the threat of violence, and that they will 
     address and, as part of their outcome, achieve, the total and 
     verifiable decommissioning of all paramilitary weapons.
       All parties will also have to address, as a high priority, 
     the Report's proposals on decommissioning. Negotiations must, 
     in a nutshell, deal fully and satisfactorily with this issue.
       But decommissioning is by no means the only item on the 
     agenda, nor should the commitments we seek be exploited to 
     avoid serious negotiation on the many other questions to be 
     addressed. The two Governments have been at pains to stress 
     that confidence is required all round if the negotiations are 
     to gain the momentum necessary for their success. The parties 
     must have reassurance that a meaningful and inclusive process 
     of negotiations is genuinely being offered to address the 
     legitimate concerns of their traditions, and the need for new 
     political arrangements with which all can identify. 
     Negotiations must be for real, and must be undertaken in good 
     faith. Every participant has the right to expect that every 
     other participant will make a genuine effort to understand 
     opposing perspectives and to seek accommodation.
       A heavy onus will rest on all of us. For all to gain, each 
     must be prepared to change. A flexible and accommodating 
     approach will be essential. For example, I was heartened by 
     the fact that the Ulster Unionist Party's recent paper, The 
     Democratic Imperative, displayed some understanding of the 
     basis of the nationalist requirement for meaningful North/
     South links. I hope that all parties, including the 
     Unionists, will feel able, both before and throughout the 
     negotiations, to prove to others their determination to forge 
     a new and all-embracing accord.
       The Unionist parties have stressed that for them an 
     elective process is of crucial importance in enabling them to 
     go to the table. Both Governments are of the view that such a 
     process would have to be broadly acceptable and would have to 
     lead immediately and without further pre-conditions to the 
     convening of all-party regotiations with a comprehensive 
     agenda.
       As is reflected in the Communigue, the details of an 
     elective process are primarily a matter for the Northern 
     Ireland parties, which will be the participants in any such 
     process, and for the British Government, which will have to 
     introduce the necessary legislation, and to ensure that it is 
     speedily processed. The question of how elections are to be 
     integrated into the launch of negotiations, on the other 
     land, is one in which we have entirely legitimate interest, 
     as one of the participants in those negotiations. The Irish 
     Government is prepared to support any process which satisfies 
     the criteria set out by the International Body; it must be 
     broadly acceptable to the Northern parties, have an 
     appropriate mandate, and be within the three stranded 
     structure. It is on this basis that the Government has agreed 
     with the British Government on the approach outlined in the 
     Communique.
       It is no secret that the Northern parties continue to 
     disagree on the form of any elective process, and on the 
     precise function of that process. There are significant 
     disagreements even between those who have advocated such a 
     process from the beginning. There is a range of possible 
     options consistent with the requirement that elections lead 
     directly and without pre-conditions into three-stranded all 
     party negotiations.
       There are also numerous other significant details which 
     need to be resolved in advance of the launch of negotiations. 
     These are broadly grouped together under the rubric of ``the 
     basis, participation, structure, format and agenda'' of such 
     negotiations. Both Governments have had useful discussions 
     with the parties during the series of preparatory talks which 
     were initiated after last November's Summit. Nevertheless, 
     there is still much work to be done. For example, we need to 
     ensure that, irrespective of the form and outcome of any 
     elective process, there will be a way for all the relevant 
     players in the situation, including the loyalist parties, 
     which have played so crucial and constructive a role, to be 
     involved in resolving the conflict. There are several other 
     key points, and myriad lesser details on which it will be 
     necessary to be clear in advance.
       It seemed to me for some time that the only practical way 
     to hammer out agreement on these issues, given both their 
     complexity and the number of participants involved, would 
     be through some form of concentrated and accelerated 
     dialogue, which would allow us all to bounce ideas off one 
     another and to explore common ground.
       The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach have now agreed that 
     the two Governments will conduct intensive multi-lateral 
     consultations on these lines with the relevant Northern 
     Ireland parties, in whatever configuration, or indeed 
     configurations, are acceptable to those concerned. These 
     consultations will begin on Monday next, 4 March. 
     Preparations at official level are already underway. The 
     Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I will meet in 
     Belfast on that day to launch the consultations and to agree

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     on how we will make the best use of the time available, to 
     ensure that every effort is made to secure widespread 
     agreement among the parties on elections and the organisation 
     of negotiations, and to allow us to come to a view on the 
     question of a referendum. I would appeal to all parties to 
     cooperate fully in that process.
       These consultations are to be strictly time-limited. They 
     will end on Wednesday 13 March. They will not be allowed to 
     drag on inconclusively, and in so doing to threaten the 
     timetable set out for the launch of negotiations. The 
     existence of a deadline will focus the minds of participants.
       After 13 March, the two Governments will immediately review 
     their outcome. The British Government will bring forward 
     legislation for an elective process, based on a judgement of 
     what seems most broadly acceptable. Decisions will also be 
     announced as appropriate on the other matters relating to the 
     negotiating process which are to be addressed by the 
     consultations. The two Governments are of the shared view 
     that the parties must be given every opportunity to shape 
     these matters in an agreed fashion, but ultimately we are 
     prepared to make judgements and where appropriate to take the 
     necessary decisions on the basis of what we have learned in 
     the consultations.
       In essence, we have mapped out a clear path to the 
     negotiating table. This combination of steps offers to all 
     parties a balanced and honourable way forward. It guarantees 
     negotiations, and it also guarantees that those negotiations 
     will be conducted on the basis of the principles of democracy 
     and non-violence. There is no reason for any party to refuse 
     to participate in negotiations. Equally, there is no reason 
     for the IRA, through a refusal to restore its ceasefire, to 
     deny Sinn Fein the possibility of full participation in 
     political dialogue and entry into the negotiations on a basis 
     of equality.
       Negotiations are a necessary means to an essential end. We 
     must never forget what it is that we seek to attain through 
     them. It is important to remind ourselves of the ultimate 
     prize we seek to gain.
       Political violence could be eradicated for-ever through a 
     draining of the swamp of inherited distrust and 
     incomprehension. Through partnership in agreed institutions, 
     unionism and nationalism could learn to respect one another 
     and to work together for the common good. Nationalists could 
     feel secure and valued within Northern Ireland: Unionists 
     could feel secure and valued on the island of Ireland. We 
     could achieve permanent agreement on the rules which would 
     order our relationships, through matching and reciprocal 
     guarantees which would transcend disputes about sovereignty. 
     The last ghosts which haunt the relationship between Britain 
     and Ireland would be laid to rest.
       It is long past time that we began to work out together how 
     to reach this destination. Now we know when negotiations will 
     begin, and we must prepare ourselves for the task ahead. The 
     Irish Government, working on the foundations and with the 
     commitments of yesterday's communique, will approach that 
     task with the utmost urgency and resolve.

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