Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy O'Dowd. I express my condolences to the Bruton family and the Fine Gael Party on the sad passing of former Taoiseach John Bruton last week. John Bruton played his part in the Northern Ireland process. Others have spoken about how pleased he would have been to see the Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and the deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, attend his State funeral at the weekend.

Saturday, 3 February, was an historic day and the proceedings in Stormont certainly gave us all grounds for hope. Many people worked hard to get us to that point. I join other speakers in congratulating the new Ministers on their appointment. It is clear they have a lot of work to do. Their in-trays are very full and they face many challenges. For a start, the health services need urgent attention, particularly the long waiting lists for hospital appointments. As we have seen from recent strikes, public sector pay is also a big issue. The British Government has put £3.3 billion on the table to deal with these problems but it is clear that more money will be needed. The Irish Government, no doubt, will continue to provide financial assistance through the shared island initiative and in other ways.

As we know, the Good Friday Agreement established the British-Irish Intergovernmental Council, the British-Irish Council and the North-South Ministerial Council, the latter of which deals with 12 subject areas. I really hope meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council can commence as soon as possible. It would be beneficial for everyone on this island. The EU and the UK have agreed the Windsor Framework. I pay tribute to the European commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič, for staying the course in this regard and for his patience and resilience in reaching a final settlement. In this context, the British Government and the DUP have signed off on the 80-page document, Safeguarding the Union. Northern Ireland is in the unique position to be part of the UK internal market while also having access to the EU's Single Market. It must be noted that we have not heard anything officially from the Commission about the deal. We must assume it can live with it. We need to get on now with the ongoing implementation of the Windsor Framework.

Despite these positive developments, it is a fact that under the current Conservative UK Government, British-Irish relations are not particularly good at this time. They began to deteriorate following the 2016 Brexit vote and the fallout from that. The UK's legacy Act has also contributed to this state of affairs. I welcome the announcement by the Tánaiste in December that the Government will be taking an interstate case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the legacy legislation. The Stormont House Agreement set out clearly what should be done as regards legacy. The legacy Act cast all of that aside. The legislation was strongly opposed by all the parties in Northern Ireland, by human rights organisations and by relatives of victims. The Government was left with no choice but to act and it is right to embark on this course of action.

Other issues concerning British-Irish relations have also arisen. The SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood, has warned in recent days that the UK Government has abandoned the principle of rigorous impartiality and is undermining the Belfast Agreement with its pro-union stance. He has a point. The UK and Irish Governments are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement but the Safeguarding the Union document does not come across as impartial. It seems the role of the Irish Government is being downplayed by the British Conservative Government. That is a worry.

Given what we have seen in recent years with the collapsing of the Northern Ireland institutions, there is no doubt that reform of these institutions is needed and cannot be put off indefinitely. The safeguards put in place to ensure cross-community support are an issue. It is a fact that the two largest parties in the assembly have no incentive to make changes, but let us get the current arrangements up and running and come back to these matters at a later stage.

There is no doubt that Brexit and Northern Ireland leaving the EU against the wishes of a majority there has given momentum to the case for a united Ireland and calls for a Border poll at some stage in the future. That simply cannot be denied. It will be fascinating to observe developments in this regard in the years ahead. Whether it will be in my lifetime, somebody else's lifetime or how long people's arms are, it is an academic question. I think the momentum is there, and it will be very interesting to watch it.

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