Transcript of Press Conference with Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, on the Peace Process, London, (25 June 2004)

Transcript of Press Conference with Tony Blair, then British Prime Minister and Bertie Ahern, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), on the Peace Process, 10 Downing Street, London, (25 June 2004)

PRIME MINISTER: (Tony Blair)

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for attending our press conference. First of all, can we thank all the parties with whom we have had discussions today. Can I say a personal word of thanks to the Taoiseach for having come here today. This is how we intend to proceed: we are going to hold intensive negotiations in the early part of September. We will set aside several days for the purpose of doing that. There will be four issues which we will be resolving at that time: an end to paramilitary activity of any kind whatsoever, the decommissioning, the institutions, and policing. All of these four issues have to be dealt with.

It is very much the same group of issues that we have talked about before, and over a long period of time, but I think there is a real recognition - this is not simply the recognition of the British and Irish governments, but actually of the parties that we have talked to today - that it is time to come to the point of decision and make up our minds one way or another so that at the end of this negotiation we either have, and let us hope we do, a concluded agreement that allows everyone to move forward together, or alternatively we are going to have to search for a different way forward.

As the Taoiseach was just reminding me a moment or two ago, it was October 2002 when I made the speech about acts of completion and said it was time that we really made sure that these final issues were resolved. By the time we get to the autumn it will have been two years of on-and-off negotiations, spending a day here and there. I think it really is time to bring this to the point of completion. I think the people of Northern Ireland want that. There must be a very, very deep sense of frustration out there. Frankly, for the credibility of the process and for our own credibility, we need to make sure that that happens. That is the way forward that we are outlining to you today.

As I say, I thank all the parties for coming along and being very constructive about that. I am not saying they agreed on how we are going to conclude or negotiate in September, but I think everybody, whatever part of the spectrum they come from, has agreed that we do need to reach a settled conclusion. We have come a long way in this whole process but I think there cannot be endless further negotiations. We are going to have to decide whether we really can reach agreement and find a way through or not.

TAIOSEACH: (Bertie Ahern)

Thank you, Prime Minister. I would like to thank the Prime Minister for having us here and my government colleagues and officials for the intensive discussions we have had today. It has been a useful, if not too long, and valuable opportunity to review and assess the parties. It is almost seven years - it will be seven years as of the first week of September - since we started the final round of the multiparty talks that led into the Good Friday Agreement. As we have been saying, it has been two years since we started this stage of acts of completion to come to finality and implement the Agreement in full.

I think it was almost inevitable that the negotiations would have to come to an end in what we have been trying to achieve. We are now at that stage and it is quite clear what the major issues are: the end of paramilitary activity, decommissioning, the institutions, and of course policing - so that we can get policing that has respect and support from all sides. Some other issues have come up as well during the course of the day that we must deal with, but those were the main ones. I think we will use the summer period to prepare ourselves and be ready to come to this final move. I hope and think that all of the parties are of a similar view. We have fairly well exhausted the discussion. The question is whether we can come to a final understanding on these issues. We are not there now, but we have to be in September; otherwise, we will have to think again. Clearly I would like to be on the side that means we can complete it, but we cannot just keep going and having discussions that do not lead to any ultimate conclusions.

I thank all of the parties for taking part in the discussions today and urge them to work with us to bring these things to an end. The people of Northern Ireland deserve that. The people of the island of Ireland deserve that. It is for everybody to play their part and for the Irish government to play ours.

Question:

Over the years you have been coming back and coming back to this. What will be different this September?

PRIME MINISTER: (Tony Blair)

We are really saying 'yes' about our ability to take this Agreement, this process, forward. We began a process that concluded with the Agreement we reached. We have been on and off many, many times. I think people do want the basic essentials of that still to be in place. They want a devolved government in Northern Ireland, and they want it to work properly. In September if we cannot find a way to make this process, of course we will have to carry on searching for a way forward; there is no doubt about that. I think we would then conclude that we cannot make further progress in the way that we originally envisaged.

Question:

Mr Blair, I know you were preparing for today last night, but I know that you found some time to watch the football. Can I ask you about your view on Sol Campbell's disallowed goal and how aggrieved you feel - as most of the nation do - that England appear to have been cheated last night?

PRIME MINISTER: (Tony Blair)

The first thing I would say is that there is obviously a tremendous sense of disappointment, which I share. Despite the disappointment, we should feel a tremendous amount of pride in the English team's spirit, determination and will to win. Of course, we wanted the result to be different, but that is the way things go sometimes. I am sure we will come back, and we have the World Cup to look forward to.

TAOISEACH (Bertie Ahern):

Ireland should have been in this tournament. I honestly believe that Sol Campbell's goal was a goal. I watched it several times and it was a goal.

PRIME MINISTER: (Tony Blair)

There you have got an impartial observer. What better testament can there be, and can I say how thoroughly I agree with the Taoiseach on this point.

Question:

Taoiseach, who do you support?

TAOISEACH (Bertie Ahern):

I always support the Manchester United players.

PRIME MINISTER (Tony Blair):

You have tempted the Taoiseach quite enough this afternoon.

Question:

Taoiseach, you mentioned coming back to the table in September. Are you saying definitively and conclusively that you will be working as Taoiseach in September and not as President of the EuropeanCommission?

Question:

I have a question for the Prime Minister. You said that if you do not reach agreement in September you might have to find another way forward and might have to think again. Are you saying that if you do not reach agreement in the autumn, you will close Stormont down and end those salaries? What is the 'what if' if you do not do it in this final push?

PRIME MINISTER: (Tony Blair)

The sensible thing is to be cautious about the nature of any alternative way forward at this point, because what we want is to reach agreement. One of the reasons why we must come to a point of decision is that most people in Northern Ireland realise you cannot carry on with an assembly where people are being paid salaries and the thing is not actually doing anything. The politicians in Northern Ireland are sensible people and have their own credibility to protect in this situation. They want to make sure that they are actually doing something. We know the list of issues, they are very familiar to people, but the important thing is that there is a general agreement to come to this point of decision. Then let us hope we can find the agreement that people want.

Question:

I have a question for the Taoiseach. What do you have to say to the tens of thousands of protesters who will be out today around Ireland to demonstrate against George Bush's visit to Ireland, the many people who believe that President Bush should not have been invited to Ireland?

TAOISEACH : (Bertie Ahern)

Obviously, as I have said many times, people are quite entitled - it is their right - to demonstrate peacefully, and I hope that is the case. I am sure it is. We have a commitment on a rotational basis of having the EU/US summit in Ireland. We have put a lot of effort in our presidency into working on making the effect of multilateralism and the transatlantic relationship stronger and better for the future. It is important that we do that. Europe is doing this.

We obviously welcome the fact that we now have a new UN resolution. Whatever the past arguments about these issues, and we know they were hotly debated last year; it is very clear about the position for the future. We have an important number of items on the agenda for this EU/US summit, particularly trade issues to do with jobs and investment for the future of Europe. It is no small matter: there is about $2.5trillion worth of trade between the US and Europe. There are 12million people working every day in Europe and the US. We want to see these matters developed. It is important for our people. It is important that we in the Irish government in the presidency fulfil our commitment to making sure we have a successful EU/US summit, and we will do that.

Question:

Many people listening to you today in Northern Ireland will regard what you say as complete fantasy. It is either that, or you know something that we and they do not. Would you share some of these a bit more specifically? For example, why do you think that an end to paramilitary activity will actually happen within this timescale? Will the DUP and Sinn Fein even talk to each other? Can there be any agreements on the modalities for working the assembly? Can we get any inkling of your thinking on those specific issues?

PRIME MINISTER: (Tony Blair)

I think you know what our thinking is on these issues. We want an end to paramilitary activity so we can go forward in NorthernIreland on an agreed basis, where there is a commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means and where people are prepared to share power with others from different parts of the NorthernIreland community. I think it is important for the credibility of this process to come to point of decision. One of the things that you get used to in politics is that there are always people who can stand on the sidelines and criticise. Our job is to try to make this work. Whatever difficulties there have been over the past few years, I have never apologised for the amount of time, effort or energy either myself of the Taoiseach have devoted to Northern Ireland. We will carry on doing our level best to get there. I hope that the other parties will help us do that. I am a great believer in the fact that even if you cannot always succeed, you must always try. That is what we are doing here. I hope the people of Northern Ireland understand that we have not given up and have devoted a great deal of time. We are not asking any thanks for that, incidentally, but we have not done that in any other cause to make life better for people in NorthernIreland, and that is what we will carry on trying to do.

TAIOSEACH: (Bertie Ahern)

I do not think these negotiations are easy. We have been true to this and there is a shared understanding of what the issues are. Perhaps there may not be a shared resolution to what they are, but in any set of negotiations, if people are committed to finding a good way forward, then it is possible to do so. I think all of the parties want to find a good way forward, and the people of NorthernIreland understand that. We want to see a peaceful summer, a summer devoid of acrimony. We have to try to find a political settlement that is possible. Let us do our very best to achieve it. September is the time to do that.