Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

» Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Northern Ireland

Asked what the Prime Minister hoped to achieve from his continuing meetings with the Northern Ireland parties and his meeting with the Taoiseach tomorrow, the PMOS said that the Good Friday Agreement was currently under review. The Prime Minister was touching base with the parties because he wanted to hear their views on how matters were progressing, as well as their ideas as to how to move the process forward. As he had told the House two weeks ago in answer to a question from David Trimble, we wanted to see an end to all paramilitary activity – a statement which had been amplified by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Paul Murphy, this morning. The Prime Minister was meeting the Taoiseach tomorrow not only to discuss Northern Ireland issues, but also European matters in the light of the fact that Ireland currently held the EU Presidency and he wanted to look ahead to the forthcoming European Council in Brussels with the Taoiseach.

Asked if there had been any developments following Mr Trimble’s call for Sinn Fein to be excluded from the process, the PMOS said that the review was still continuing. A police investigation was also ongoing. The Prime Minister’s views on paramilitary activity had been made crystal clear in the House two weeks ago. They had not changed. Asked if the Government would be referring the matter raised by Mr Trimble to the Independent Monitoring Commission, as Mr Murphy had suggested this morning, the PMOS acknowledged that the Government had concerns about continuing paramilitary activity. We now had an oversight body that was able to look at these issues. Mr Murphy’s words this morning spoke for themselves.

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