THE only way forward for Northern Ireland is the transformation of the State into one which reflects the "dual nationality of its people", the leader of the Progressive Democrats has said.
After a round of meetings in Belfast with political figures, including the new Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, Ms Mary Harney called in a statement for an end to the republican movement's "evil strategy of the ballot box and the armalite" and demanded that unionist leaders drop their "supremacist, majority rule OK stance".
"The intransigent battlecries of `No Surrender' on the one hand and `Brits Out' on the other have only fuelled death and destruction, hatred and division, over the past 27 years," she said.
The British government was in a powerful position to act evenhandedly and, in partnership with the Irish Government, to demand an end to the "political play acting which has gone on for the past year".
She said Dr Mowlam's actions since her appointment just over a week ago indicated that she had an insight into "the underlying nature of the communal conflict" in the North.
SDLP deputy leader Mr Seamus Mallon said his meeting yesterday with Ms Harney was "very constructive and informative".
Ms Harney also met Alliance Party leader Lord Alderdice.