Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my late arrival as I was attending another meeting. I welcome the Minister of State. This is a very important committee. Other committees such as the Committee of Public Accounts or the finance or agriculture committees may be regarded by some in the Oireachtas as being very important but in my view this committee is by far the most important, given that it frames what happens on the island of Ireland. The progress of events in the past 20 years has been incredible when one remembers what both sides of the Border on the island of Ireland had to endure and how people have overcome such difficulties. We are in a much better place now.

Last Monday, a number of Fine Gael Oireachtas Members went to Stormont, on their own initiative, in order to build links. We attended a dinner with major business leaders and members of all the political parties as well as the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. Peter Robinson said that we can talk about the political situation but I think we have got over that, so to speak. I do not think the DUP or the other parties regard politicians coming to visit as an issue now. As politicians, we need to begin to reach out socially rather than politically because that is how things happen. I refer to the North-South parliamentary forum and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and various agencies and infrastructure but in my view, visits such as last week's visit facilitate social exchange and off-the-record conversations build friendships which it is hoped will last for the good of everyone.

I have been to the Newtownards Road and I have met former combatants and dissident IRA prisoners. I have visited Marian Price in hospital and I am delighted that she was released, which was the right thing to do. These issues should have been addressed much earlier.

I refer to some issues outstanding such as the Irish language and the bill of rights which need to be addressed and this committee can play a significant role in addressing them. I have said publicly and in this committee that we have no interaction with loyalist and Unionist MPs. This is an important committee. I commend the SDLP and Sinn Féin MLAs who have attended our meetings and made valuable contributions. However, absence has created a void which we should not ignore. We may need to send out the message that it would be helpful to the loyalist and Unionist community but also it would be helpful to this committee and of benefit to the Good Friday Agreement to have some involvement and interaction with them and to hear their views.

We need education about our past and where we come from. When I visited the Newtownards Road last Monday, I was conscious that nearly 100 years ago my grandfather was tried in a Belfast court in 1919 and was imprisoned in the Curragh. He was from the republican tradition and a Sinn Féin councillor and he went on hunger strike. He joined the Garda Síochána at the foundation of the State. At that time, tens of thousands of young men were involved in the Ulster Volunteers and were marching, mobilising, training and arming themselves to fight against home rule while my grandfather was involved in the Irish Volunteers of which there were 200,000. They were training, mobilising and arming themselves to push for home rule. The historian, Roy Foster, said that if the First World War had not broken out, there would have been some terrible bloodshed on the island of Ireland. I come from Boyle, a town of 3,500 people and 126 young men from that town died in the First World War. History is written by the victors and we air-brushed those young men out of our lives and out of our history. I will wear the poppy because these young men came from a Nationalist tradition and they should be remembered. The poppy should not be the preserve of militant unionism, nor should the lily be the preserve of militant nationalism. I can respect the 126 young men from my town or the 50,000 young men from the island of Ireland by wearing something in remembrance of their sacrifice. Equally, as democratic Nationalists we should not be afraid to wear the lily to remember the men of 1916.

Let us not talk about the political structures because they are there to stay. Our work is to build up cross-Border and cross-community links through education. For some politicians in Cork and in other parts of the country, the North might as well be as far as Roscommon because that is as far as they have travelled. The same applies to people in Northern Ireland. We must try to encourage much more co-operation. We should not be afraid of anybody nor should we dwell on our history - although we should remember it - and we need to move forward.