Cowen: 'Determination' the key to saving peace process
Foreign Minister Brian Cowen said there would be a “common determination” on the part of the Dublin and London governments to ensure the agenda of the Good Friday agreement was fully implemented if the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly went ahead.
Commenting in Dublin, he added: “That is the best prospect for political stability – and the hope that we will see put away for ever the spectre of paramilitarism and sectarianism that has bedevilled this process for far too long.”
Meanwhile, SDLP leader Mark Durkan said that recent events had given many cause for concern that "the transition from violence was not complete".
He said the focus in the wake of suspension must be to create a future without paramilitaries.
“The real burden of our effort has to be on what are we going to do to bring back the institutions," he said.
He added the parties must “deal not just with the underlying confidence issue that is there because of the ongoing activities and existence of paramilitaries but also to round up all the other outstanding issues in relation to the Agreement“.
Calls were also made today for the two Sinn Fein ministers in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Executive to resign.
Ulster Unionist Reg Empey called on Education Minister Martin McGuinness and Health Minister Bairbre de Brun to vacate their posts.
