Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Is maith an rud é go bhfuilimid ag déanamh díospóireachta ar an ábhar seo inniu.

In some respects I find this subject very difficult because I approach it from a slightly different angle than most. That is because although I am a republican and a social democrat, a lot of my ancestry is Unionist. I do not share their ideology and wish they would embrace a more open type of unionism. However, I am conscious of the fact that they are part of the peoples of this island and that we have to learn to work with them. A great deal of work has been done on that journey.

At a meeting in Ballycastle, County Antrim, I heard Nuala O'Loan say that we all have to work at the peace process. We take it for granted that we have peace, which is a very foolish idea in the context of Ireland. I am particularly grateful to the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, for keeping a close eye on what is happening in Northern Ireland. He uses people like me, various other Labour parliamentarians and others, to try to have links with different parts of the community in the North. I am not suggesting that Labour is the only party that does this; it is not, but it is really important that we do so. I wish to pay tribute to the Tánaiste for showing that real, active interest in being on top of the issue and in trying to encourage the British Government in particular to be more active, as well as interacting with different parties in Northern Ireland.

When one thinks of the three areas that Dr. Richard Haass was considering - parades, flags and emblems, and the past - one could get very frustrated. For example, the last time I was in Belfast just before Christmas, we met some loyalists who were protesting at Twaddell Avenue just outside the Ardoyne. I spoke to one of them who was in charge of some of the protestors. I said it was really important that the PSNI enforced the order that the Orange Order were not to march up past there, because if they did not it would damage whatever relationship they were building with the Catholic or Nationalist community so much. The response I got to that was so frustrating. He said: "Yes, I understand what you are saying, but we still want to do it." That mindset is one of unionism's greatest enemies.

I do not share their view, but they have every right to want to maintain a link with Britain. However, they do not, and never did have, a right to treat Nationalists and Catholics as second class citizens. While they are no longer top dog in the way they used to be, they still have a huge amount to learn in terms of treating their Northern Nationalist brethren as equals.

I have used that example to show the frustration involved. I appeal to the Unionist parties to engage fully in the Haass process. That was a real attempt to get both sides to treat each other with respect and dignity. Some serious steps have been taken down that track. For example, in the area of the past it is now possible to show some mutual respect towards commemorations of the Somme and of Bloody Sunday in Derry.

There is an urgent need to take a leadership role, however, particularly because there are small groups both on the nationalist and unionist sides who want to destabilise things. There is a real need for unionists to engage properly with the nationalist community and nationalist politicians, be they from Sinn Féin or the SDLP, in order to find a way forward. I urge them to do so.

There is great scope for civic society to play a much more leading role in all of this. In the Republic of Ireland civic society plays a huge role in representing different interests. Businesses, trade unions and churches could do more to encourage people to engage with one another in the North.

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