BRITISH AND Irish parliamentarians yesterday jointly called for a "credible and unequivocal" restoration of the IRA ceasefire to enable fully inclusive political negotiations to take place.
In a motion passed unanimously by the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body at Dublin Castle, politicians from upper and lower houses on both sides of the Irish Sea condemned all acts of violence in the North. They also urged all participants in the multiparty talks in Belfast to redouble their efforts to move as rapidly as possible into substantive three-stranded negotiations.
Disagreement emerged between delegates, however, in relation to decommissioning. An amendment proposed by a Conservative MP, Mr David Wilshire, calling on all terrorist organisations to "decide and announce" a permanent end to violence and begin handing over all arms and explosives was overwhelmingly rejected by the body.
Mr Wilshire argued for the necessity of decommissioning in the light of continuing murders and violence in the North, and because, he said, the IRA never intended its ceasefire of August 1994 to be permanent.
Further differences were revealed within the body's political and security committee by its chairman, the Fianna Fail TD, Dr Rory O'Hanlon. He told the body that the committee had been studying policing for about a year but that it was unable to report on its findings because of disagreement which arose after Drumcree.
The Labour MP, Mr Kevin McNamara, strongly attacked unionists for their "intransigence" and "Enoch Powell" approach to negotiations. He said Sinn Fein was distracting attention from the unionists, with whom the real problem lay at present.
He rejected Tory criticism of the Taoiseach's comparison of Drumcree with Canary Wharf at Monday's meeting of the body. Mr McNamara said that there were quantitative rather than qualitative differences between the two cases and that Mr Bruton was right in making the comparison.
In relation to concerns over the health of Ms Roisin McAliskey, the Labour MP, Mr Denis Canavan, questioned the behaviour of the British and German governments. He said that British courts had already seen enough miscarriages of justice without seeing any more.
Sir Giles Shaw, Conservative MP, read a statement from the British Foreign Office on the case, and explained why Ms McAliskey was considered a Category A prisoner. He said that it was not easy to maintain appropriate security and an appropriate regime for pregnant women at once.
He reiterated that since January 1996 it had been made clear that shackles were not used on pregnant women in prison, and that the Irish Government was aware of this.
The role of the Parachute Regiment also arose at yesterday's closing session. Lord Rees (Labour) said it was a mistake for the regiment to be on duty on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
