Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to listen to Mr. Donoghue and Mr. Montgomery. They are excellent contributions. I apologise that I missed the very start of the meeting as I was delayed at an earlier meeting.

Both of the witnesses paid tribute, quite rightly, to Mr. Tony Blair. We should always record his interest and his leadership at that time. We would not be in the position we are today were it not for Tony Blair's major contribution. I always think of the people with whom who I am sure the witnesses would have had great interactions over the years, such as the late Kevin McNamara, the Labour Party MP, and other people in all parties in Britain who were great champions of the needs of the Irish community in Northern Ireland. That was at a time when it was not politically profitable for them in their own constituencies. I recall some MPs and some Members of the House of Lords from Scotland, England and Wales being very interested in Ireland and unafraid to stand up in their respective Houses to make the case around the injustices they saw inflicted on the nationalist community over the years.

One theme that has come across, which also came from Mr. Tim O'Connor last week, is the strong partnership that is needed between both Governments to make progress at political and official level. This comes through very clearly today. Mr. Donoghue also mentioned the role of President Bill Clinton. Some of the senior American people would tell us that President Clinton had been very much influenced by Senator Ted Kennedy and a group of people who worked closely alongside Senator Kennedy. I remember listening to Senator Kennedy state that his family support for President Clinton prior to his first successful election was very much based on Mr. Clinton having to take an interest in Northern Ireland and be supportive of the efforts of the Irish National Caucus. I recall Senator Kennedy saying this at a meeting I had the privilege of attending in Washington. It is always important in recollections that we recall the roles of those people and the inspiration they gave.

Mr. Donoghue mentioned the unique capacity of Mr. George Mitchell. Again, it was very important he was there in that particular role.

Mr. Montgomery mentioned how David Trimble was constantly facing Ulster Unionist council meetings. We recall how very regularly on a Saturday morning that unionist council met. The commentary on BBC and UTV would be about whether the delegates from Fermanagh and south Tyrone turn up in such numbers. It was basically non-elected people within the unionist parties who were calling the shots that time. Did Mr. Trimble and his colleagues in the leadership do enough to prepare the ground for change among their party membership? It is obvious that other parties had prepared very well.

I recall some of the loyalist parties stating that they did not have confidence in the main unionist parties and at times, they sought the help of the Irish Government at political official level to deal with some of the issues they saw as being of major importance to them.

Last week, I mentioned that I remember when Bertie Ahern came to a group of us from the northern half of the country in the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, and we had probably around 80 Deputies and probably well over 20 Senators, and telling us that Articles 2 and 3 were going to be changed. We did not expect that. We had always outlined the value and importance of Articles 2 and 3 but at a meeting at 7 a.m. in Ballyconnell, he, along with Martin Mansergh and the then Attorney General, David Byrne, told quite a large number of us what the prize on offer was if we were willing to go along with what he was proposing. The groundwork was prepared. We were taken aback initially that this was being suggested but Bertie Ahern won the argument without any opposition in the party.

Mr. Montgomery mentioned that North-South structures dominated interaction but in one way, I am glad they did. Colleagues on this committee will be tired of hearing me refer to it but the evolution and success of the all-Ireland economy happened without us talking about it because the right atmosphere was created through the new political structures and the new relationships North-South and east-west that emerged from the Good Friday Agreement. We have seen significant development in the North-South all-Ireland economy. Thankfully, constituencies like mine benefited significantly from that as did constituencies all over the country. In reviewing the Good Friday Agreement, we often leave out some of the areas that are exceptionally successful that we take for granted. We pocket them and move on to the next area of complaint. We should always bear in mind what the success stories are.

Mr. Montgomery was pretty hard on himself with regard to how some ends could have been tied up better in terms of negotiations but I know that apart from his work and that of Mr. Donoghue at home in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, they have had extensive experience at the most senior level internationally, particularly within the EU. They know that if there is no deadline, people will negotiate forever so I do not think a deal where everything has been tied up happens that often. Mr. Montgomery has been involved in EU treaties and different referenda. It is very hard to tie everything up. From that point of view, it is very understandable that some areas have been left very vague.

Mr. Montgomery also mentioned the studies by the University of London about the constitutional position vis-à-visthe provision in the Good Friday Agreement about the Secretary of State calling a referendum. Was Etain Tannam was one of the-----