[Mb-civic] Politicians' duty to deliver in N. Ireland - Dermot Ahern - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

  Politicians' duty to deliver in N. Ireland

By Dermot Ahern  |  April 6, 2006  |  The Boston Globe

IT HAS BEEN almost eight years since the Good Friday Agreement was 
endorsed, but its promise has yet to be fully realized. For more than 
three years, the devolved government in Northern Ireland has been on 
hold, the democratic institutions established under the agreement have 
been suspended, and people in Northern Ireland have had politics without 
influence. Today, the Irish and British governments are announcing 
proposals to put an end to this shadow politics.

Americans take it for granted that they can elect representatives who 
govern them, who set the laws and regulations that enable them to work 
and raise their families. If those politicians get it wrong, they can be 
removed from office and replaced.

Northern Ireland had a glimpse of this several years ago when the 
Northern Ireland assembly and executive first met: Locally elected 
politicians from both communities began to make the hard but necessary 
choices about education, health, industry, agriculture, and other vital 
issues.

Most important, they did so in partnership. Power-sharing between 
representatives of both communities is crucial to Northern Ireland's 
future. We cannot heal the wounds of the past with a snap of our fingers 
and they will not go away on their own. Power-sharing is the bandage on 
the wound -- bringing the sides together, allowing deeper recovery and 
normalcy to come naturally in time. And for power-sharing to work, it 
must be real, and genuinely and inclusively shared.

People deserve to have that normalcy and that control over their lives 
restored to them. That is why the two governments will reestablish the 
Northern Ireland assembly on May 15.

The assembly will be expected to form a power-sharing executive within 
six weeks. If it does so, power will be devolved to Northern Ireland 
from Westminster and politicians can get on with the business of government.

Last July, the Irish Republican Army committed itself to peaceful means. 
In September, the Independent International Commission on 
Decommissioning reported that the IRA's weapons had been put beyond use.

Since then, there have been no sanctioned shootings or assaults, no 
''punishment" attacks, no evidence of training or recruitment and no 
robberies on the part of the IRA.

More needs to be done; loyalist paramilitaries must disarm and normal 
policing must be extended to all areas and receive support from all 
communities. The killers of Denis Donaldson, a former official for Sinn 
Fein, the IRA's political wing, need to be tracked down and brought to 
justice. The murder earlier this week of Donaldson, who was recently 
exposed as a British spy, was a savage act and a shocking reminder of 
Northern Ireland's tragic and tortured past. We cannot let those who 
trade in murder dictate the pace of the political process. The need for 
positive politics has never been clearer. As politicians, we have a duty 
to deliver. In recognition of the transformation that has occurred, the 
British government has been scaling down its military presence in 
Northern Ireland. Troop numbers are at their lowest level in 30 years. 
This week, I witnessed the demolition of the last British army watch 
towers in Armagh.

People may say that trust needs to be rebuilt, but that it takes time. 
We are prepared to give it some limited additional time, but trust only 
comes from working together, from being dependent on one another to get 
results. Cooperation builds trust, separation does not.

Progress in the peace process will be maintained. With or without 
devolved government this year, the Irish and British governments will do 
all they can to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is implemented to 
the maximum possible extent for the benefit of all communities.

I hope that the parties will rise to the challenge when they sit down 
together in the assembly in May with a clear mandate and timetable to 
prepare for shared government.

Sometimes in politics, one needs to step back and see things in 
perspective. In Northern Ireland, that view is of genuinely impressive 
progress. It took real leadership to get us here; it will take 
leadership to complete the transformation. It is time for politicians in 
Northern Ireland to get on with the job they were elected to do.

Dermot Ahern is Ireland's minister for foreign affairs.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/06/politicians_duty_to_deliver_in_n_ireland/
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