The victory for Mr David Trimble at this week's Ulster Unionist Council meeting had been good for the peace process and for the Belfast Agreement generally, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, said in Dublin yesterday. Deaglán de Bréadún, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, reports.
Mr Murphy was speaking to journalists after a meeting lasting nearly two hours with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, at Iveagh House. The Minister agreed with Mr Murphy's assessment, saying the Ulster Unionist vote "signifies a continuation of a pro-Agreement stance".
According to Mr Murphy, the Unionists had "committed themselves, yet again, to the implementation of the Good Friday agreement".
He added: "Events this week have been very encouraging and very heartening for everyone involved in the process."
Denying any disagreement with Dublin's call for elections in the autumn, Mr Murphy said: "Of course it is important to work towards those elections, but at the same time it is equally important to try and ensure that we have an executive formed when the elections are held."
Mr Cowen said: "Our own Government has particular and specific views, as you know, in relation to the holding of elections. We will continue to work together as joint guarantors of this Agreement to bring about a situation where the full institutional framework is back up and running. There are still challenges there. We do not underestimate the difficulties, but we are determined to find a resolution as I think the people of Northern Ireland, on all sides, want us to do. I believe recent political developments in the North confirm that the body politic there is still committed to finding a solution consistent with full implementation of the Agreement."