Robinson insists IRA must disarm
Peter Robinson was speaking at the Small Firms Association (SFA) annual conference in Dublin yesterday, his first major engagement in the city.
He said his party wanted to see the return of the assembly and the cross-border bodies, but would not share power with Sinn Féin without “decommissioning of all the illegal weapons and the end of all paramilitary activity.”
On the North’s economy he said he wanted the British government to set up a “peace fund” which would divert money normally used to pay for the security costs to help rejuvenate the economy and modernise the ageing infrastructure.
The MP said he looked forward to a better relationship between the Republic and Northern Ireland with increased trade and economic activity.
Ahead of talks between the Northern parties and the British and Irish governments at Leeds Castle in Kent next week, Mr Robison said the “ingredients” were in place for a deal and the DUP was ready to play its part in reviving the Assembly.
“I believe that the opportunity exists to finally obtain a lasting settlement which will allow us to concentrate fully on economic and social issues which are vital to people’s everyday lives.”
He added: “I want to see the threat of terrorism removed, I want to see a devolved Assembly in Northern Ireland and I want to see congenial and positive relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic.”
But Mr Robinson warned: “The days of half measures, hidden gestures and woolly words are over. There can be no more each-way bets. Either republicans commit to exclusively peaceful and democratic means or they will have no place in government. Terror and democracy can not co-exist.”
Mr Robinson said it was not just republican activities he wanted to see an end to. The British government must also act to quell loyalists’ breaches of the ceasefire, which he claimed were happening a daily basis.
The DUP, which is the largest unionist party in the North following assembly elections last November, was committed to the upcoming talks, he said, adding that no deal should be reached only to have it fall apart immediately. “Deals have been cobbled together only to collapse when touched by the first political tremor. Reaching a lasting and durable settlement must be valued more highly than getting an early deal cobbled together.”
While for the most part his speech was conciliatory, he said he did not see any prospect of a united Ireland. “It is clear from the 2001 census in Northern
Ireland there is no prospect of a united Ireland for the foreseeable future. This I hope will encourage people to concentrate on how we can best deal with the present actuality rather than chasing moonbeams which only serve to undermine the prospect of better relations and distract us from that task.”
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