The Newtownhamilton bombing was deplored by the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, and by the British Northern Ireland Minister, Mr Paul Murphy, during a debate on the Belfast Agreement at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg yesterday.
Ms O'Donnell told delegates to the assembly of 40 member-states that she was shocked by the bomb, but that "we must not allow extremism to wreck the momentum for lasting peace and a political settlement".
Ms O'Donnell said there were important lessons for other conflicts in the Belfast Agreement. Every conflict was unique and she had resisted suggestions to impose formulae from other conflicts; but "the requirement for an open-ended agenda, and the ability to explore issues on `without-prejudice' basis, was crucial".
She said that other key ingredients included the prior commitment to exclusively peaceful means and to abide by the outcome of the negotiations, the involvement of three independent chairmen, and of international partners in the implementation, prisoner releases and the setting of a deadline for agreement.
It was a time of "great hope, happiness and expectation in Ireland", Ms O'Donnell said.
A bilateral meeting with Mr Murphy ranged over such issues as the elections and the importance of keeping to the implementation timetable.
Some 20 speakers contributed to the debate, including the deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr John Taylor, the former British Labour Party spokesman on the North, Mr Kevin McNamara, and Mr Tom Enright, of Fine Gael. All backed the peace agreement, which was welcomed unanimously by the assembly.
