Yesterday's confirmation by the two governments that the Framework Document remains the basis for the all-party talks will, hopefully, go some way to assuage nationalist concern about the wording of the heads of agreement, particularly in relation to the North-South dimension.

The governments' joint paper confirms the stance taken by the SDLP when the Heads of Agreement were published that little of substance had changed and that it was up to the negotiators to work towards an agreement. It has been always obvious that difficult choices would have to be faced and compromises arrived at at the end of the day.

In this context, there is a stark clarity in the words of the murdered Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, that "one makes peace with one's enemies, not with one's friends".

However, to arrive at the point of peace with one's enemies, it is essential to retain the support of one's friends and followers. Accordingly, nobody should have any illusions about the difficulties that face the parties in Northern Ireland as the May deadline comes closer.

However, the political parties in the South and their supporters should not sit back complacently and assume the hard decisions have to be made solely North of the Border. While the political establishment in the South has been quite happy to row in behind the concerns of Northern nationalists that the North-South bodies have teeth, there is little evidence that the implications for the Republic of a North-South body with executive powers have been given serious consideration.

Put simply, there is far more to a meaningful settlement of the North-South dimension than simply amending Articles 2 and 3 of our Constitution and Section 75 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The whole complex set of relations among people on this island has to be addressed.

For instance, the level of co-operation required between the Northern Irish executive government and the government in Dublin will have to be determined. It will, by necessity, involve the establishment of bodies which will function on an all-Ireland basis answerable to the North-South ministerial council.

The reality of this North-South ministerial council will unfold slowly as confidence between North and South is developed and areas of mutual interest and co-operation are identified. I wonder how many people in the South are prepared to face up to that reality and to live with it in the fullness of time?

For example, there is a clear mutual interest in promoting the whole of Ireland as a location for foreign inward investment. Initially, this would mean co-operation between the Industrial Development Authority from the South and the Industrial Development Board from the North. Logic, however, would suggest that co-operation should in turn be replaced by integration and that such a body should be answerable directly to the North-South ministerial council.

The pooling of resources and the attainment of economies of scale in the operation of the merged IDA/IDB will ultimately result in personnel from North and South participating in the senior executive positions. Eventually, this new body will be promoting investment in Coleraine as well as in Carrigaline.

Another example would be the fusion of the two tourist promotion agencies. The transfer of their accountability from Stormont and Leinster House to the North-South ministerial council will further test the loyalties and commitment of those politicians who represent tourism-dependent constituencies in Leinster House.

If we are to arrive at a successful conclusion to these talks, we have to focus on the different sets of relationships on this island and between this island and the neighbouring island of Britain. It is clear an exclusively internal solution to Northern Ireland cannot work. The history of the last 70 odd years is sufficient evidence to reach such a conclusion.

It is also clear that notwithstanding the significantly enhanced and positive relationship between Dublin and London, that will not on its own be sufficient. The North-South relationships are crucial to the successful operation of the other two. Indeed all three sets of relationships are dependent upon and complement each other. This is why it is crucial that the North-South relations are given significant form and real substance. In this respect, the Irish Government and the Oireachtas have a unique role to play.

The more we are prepared to share executive power in the operation of agencies which we have successfully established in the South and which have complementary agencies in the North, the more real substance can be assigned to the operation of that North-South dimension.

It is far too early to be prescriptive as to the precise nature and form of those executive powers, but it is clear at this stage that we need to show a clear willingness to maximise their potential, their efficiency and consequently their effectiveness.

No one in the Republic should underestimate the operational and political difficulties that this may cause for some people. The hard decisions are not all going to have to be made North of the Border. Yet we in the South have a substantial vested interest in seeing a successful outcome to the current talks process.

A satisfactory resolution of the conflict of relations between the peoples of this island is decidedly to the advantage of everybody on the island of Ireland, but particularly the tax-paying citizens of the Republic of Ireland. As such, a successful resolution would in turn contain a much improved relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

It would prepare us, in a unique way, to face the difficult challenges which the two states, as two offshore islands within the European Union, will have to confront, as that Union both deepens its integration and enlarges its membership. The 60 million people on the two islands have much more in common than those issues which have historically divided us, particularly in a European Union that will, within 12 years, have more than 400 million citizens.

Dublin and London working together in Brussels can do an enormous amount to enhance the well-being and welfare of all of the people in Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

The talks process has now been given a very welcome impetus by yesterday's statement. The onus is on the parties involved to make it work. Most of the people involved directly in the process acknowledge that, if we fail on this occasion, we will not see an opportunity like this for quite some time. The people of the Republic have a real and vested interest in the success of the outcome of these talks and we must be prepared to strengthen the structure and composition of the three sets of relationships which taken together provide the basis for a satisfactory and acceptable outcome for all concerned.