Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams has welcomed criticisms of the British government in remarks by the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, in London on Wednesday night.
In a lengthy address the Archbishop said it was difficult to underestimate the impact of "endless allegations of collusion", between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, "on the confidence of the Catholic community in the impartiality of the British government generally and in the new beginning to policing in particular".
He also said failure by the British government to honour commitments following the Cory report and calls for a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane were "unacceptable". He called for reform of the Special Branch and an end to the disproportionate presence of the British Army in nationalist areas.
Where Catholics were concerned, he called on them to share responsibility for policing in the North and to vigorously challenge any ambivalence about paramilitaries in their communities. In referendums on the Belfast Agreement, the people of Ireland "declared clearly and unequivocally that there is no further need of violence to resolve or pursue the question of a United Ireland. I believe it is now time to face up to the full implications of that act of self-determination," he said.
Speaking in Letterkenny, Co Donegal yesterday, Mr Adams said: "Archbishop Brady's remarks about collusion are proof, if any is needed, of the widespread concerns over collusion. The reneging by the British government on a firm commitment to establish an independent, public inquiry into the killing of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane has heightened these concerns.
"Regardless of how much the British government may protest about the need to get unionist support for the process of change, an objective which Sinn Féin actively supports, the issue is one for the British government and not for any unionist party.
"Demilitarisation, the equality agenda and many related matters are alone British government responsibilities at this time. I believe that the British government is using the situation within unionism as a cover for resistance to change within its own system," he said.
The North's Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, welcomed the support received in recent years from Archbishop Brady and the Catholic hierarchy for policing reforms.
Meanwhile, the SDLP's Mr Eddie McGrady yesterday called on Ian Paisley jnr to retract his "highly offensive comments"about Archbishop Brady. On RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland programme yesterday, Mr Paisley described "Mr" Brady's address as "disgraceful" and "outrageously intransigent".
Mr McGrady said Mr Paisley's statement was "the worst kind of political contribution - offensive, inaccurate, provocative and inciting of the most dangerous attitudes of our community." He said he expected a "responsible political party to condemn and distance themselves from such an outrageous outburst."
In an address described as "balanced" by the president of the Methodist Church, Rev Jim Rea, Archbishop Brady said unionists must accept the full implications of the principles enshrined in the Belfast Agreement concerning nationalist identity. He called on them to accept the legacy of violence and threat of violence in their community and the role that legacy played in creating and maintaining the Northern state. He also asked them to address ambivalence in their communities where loyalist paramilitaries are concerned.