Dr. Anthony Soares:

On the Senator’s question around political elements and the suggestion that that might be missing within the new common charter for co-operation within and between these islands, there are two things I wish to stress. This is very much a grassroots charter produced by community organisations. It is their vision for how they wish to co-operate and the value they place on that. The institutions created under the Good Friday Agreement, such as the British-Irish Council and the British-Irish Interparliamentary Conference, as well as structures such as the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly – to which we very much look forward to presenting the new common charter next Monday – may not have not been exploited to their full potential by one or both Governments, or perhaps some of the administration has not evolved. For example, one could look to the persons who head the delegations of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Parliaments to the British-Irish Council and note the persons who lead the representations from the Irish and UK Governments to the same organisations. Such an examination left me with the impression that insufficient importance is given to the structure by one of those members, while the others send their highest representatives to take part.

Institutions and channels exist to allow parliamentarians to co-operate and engage in dialogue. As the Senator noted, it is essential that those opportunities for North-South and east-west dialogue exist and involve all parliamentarians. Turning to civil society, however, we do not see the same opportunities for that type of dialogue.

The Good Friday Agreement referred to a Northern Ireland civic forum. It has since disappeared and been replaced by a civic advisory panel with six members. I think it has met once or twice but not since the institutions stopped functioning. Going from a Northern Ireland civic forum to a civic advisory panel with six members does not seem to give us much of a platform for civic society dialogue within Northern Ireland. The St. Andrews Agreement pointed out that the all-island consultative forum suggested in the Good Friday Agreement had yet to come about. We are still waiting for that all-Ireland dimension which will allow civic society to enter into dialogue in the same way that parliamentarians do.

Strand three of the Good Friday Agreement referred to a British-Irish Council and a Northern Ireland civic forum but there was no suggestion that there should be an equivalent platform for an all-Ireland forum for civic society. Perhaps it was a sign of the times when the Good Friday Agreement was written. This charter might perhaps address that gap. It could be something that starts the process and initiates thinking on this issue. I refer to a vision of grassroots community organisation co-operation rather than looking at the political structures that exist already. Those structures could be exploited even further, however.