Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
Election of Chairman
1:30 pm
Clerk to the Committee:
This meeting has been convened for the purpose of electing a Chairman following the appointment of the former Chairman, Deputy Joe McHugh, to the position of Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht and natural resources. Apologies have been received from Deputies Seán Crowe, Martin Ferris and Thomas Pringle, Senator Mary Moran and Mark Durkan MP. I invite nominations for the position of Chairman.
Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I propose Deputy Frank Feighan as Chairman. He has been a member of this committee for the lifetime of this Dáil and he has proved, not alone by his work on the committee but on an individual basis, that he fits the criteria for the post. On the implementation of Good Friday Agreement, he has honoured everything that he has been asked to do in regard to this. He has attended many functions in Northern Ireland on his own behalf and has worked with various groups whom he knows and understands their position to improve relations between the North and the South as well as in the northern area. He is the right person for this job and I nominate him as such.
Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael)
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I second that nomination.
Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the clerk to the committee. I thank the committee for electing me as Chairman the committee. It is an honour to take over the role and I look forward to the challenge. The committee has been engaged in great work during recent years and I am confident we will all work together to build on what we have achieved to develop North-South relations further at political, community and church level and promote and enhance cross-Border co-operation across a number of sectors.
I commend the work of our former Chairman, the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, and a previous Chairman, Deputy Joanna Tuffy, for the valuable contribution he and she have made to our work. I wish Deputy Joe McHugh well in his new position at Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeltacht affairs and natural resources.
The committee plays an important role in informing debate on key issues of mutual interest. I look forward to working with all the members to further those issues. I am very interested in infrastructural development North and South. I know many of the members, especially those from the Border region and further afield, have articulated the need for our committee to push forward infrastructural development. We hope that after the next meeting we will have a delegation that could visit the site of Narrow Water Bridge and other areas of infrastructure.
All that remains for me to do is to wish everybody a nice break and to adjourn the meeting.