Parnell Summer School: Sinn Féin leaders will "do everything" in their power to keep the peace process going and remove the guns from Irish politics, a senior member of the party said yesterday.
In an address to the Parnell Summer School in Co Wicklow, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin said the British government could help bring an end to the "armed force dimension of Irish republicanism" by fully implementing the Good Friday agreement.
But he also warned that the cancellation in May of Assembly Elections in Northern Ireland could result in "the possible meltdown" of the political conditions that led to the agreement.
The Sinn Féin chairman said: "The Sinn Féin leadership are totally committed to doing everything in our power to maintain the peace process and to removing the guns forever from the politics of our country.
"Decommissioning was addressed comprehensively in the negotiations leading up to Good Friday and is addressed directly in the agreement itself.
"The section on decommissioning makes clear that addressing this issue is dependant on two key elements: a collective responsibility on all participants to work in good faith with the international commission and the implementation of the overall agreement.
"Under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, all of the participants have a responsibility to deal with the decommissioning issue. This includes the two governments." Mr McLaughlin said the British government had been "a hugely negative factor" in Ireland but he acknowledged the role and the time the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, had devoted to the quest for peace.
"He knows that Sinn Féin's position has been consistent and that we want to play a full and advanced role in this quest," the former Foyle MLA said.
"But he knows also, as does the Taoiseach, that we have made it clear that through the good faith implementation of this agreement we can achieve an end to the 'armed force' dimension of Irish republicanism." He said the denial of the right to vote in Northern Ireland had "sent shock waves" around the world.