The Belfast Agreement has already been reviewed and must not be renegotiated again, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
Mr Ahern rejected comments yesterday by the Democratic Unionist Party that the 1998 deal was dead and a new beginning was needed.
He said the agreement was reviewed for most of 2004 with political parties in Northern Ireland and was accepted by the DUP and other political parties in Northern Ireland before the aborted power-sharing deal last December.
"We've had the review and the review is finished," Mr Ahern said after attending the seventh British-Irish Council (BIC) summit on the Isle of Man today.
"We respect the good relationships we have built up with unionism. But the basis for moving forward is with the Good Friday Agreement," he said. Altering the agreement now was "not a possibility", he added.
DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley said after meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday that a new beginning was needed because the 1998 accord was dead. "I think it should be given a reasonable burial," he added.
But Mr Ahern said today that the matter was briefly discussed at the Douglas summit and that representatives from the eight member countries, including Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott agreed with his view.
The Taoiseach noted that the integral consultation process was continuing within the IRA and he awaited its outcome.
"We're very clear about our position but we must still deal with all the outstanding issues like criminality, paramilitarism and decommissioning.
"If that happens then we will expect unionism to participate in the power sharing executive which is the basis of the Good Friday Agreement. There is no other basis," he said.
The BIC summit included senior political representatives from Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The BIC is one of the institutions set up under the agreement to promote harmonious development between all eight nations.