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

I thank Mr. Powell. Like the previous speakers, I compliment him on the work he did with Mr. Blair as his chief of staff and chief negotiator, on his commitment to the advancement of peace on this island and on his continued interest and the good and impartial commentary he gives through the media at different times.

As a person who worked at a senior official level with the British Government as a diplomat and then as Mr. Blair's chief of staff, his comments today on the foreign policy pursued by Mr. Johnson's Government are fairly stark, to say the least. He used a few phrases that I totally agree with from my limited knowledge of British foreign policy. He spoke about the unilateral action and how damaging it is. He said the British Government is proposing to break international law, is undermining its country's international reputation and is alienating North American and European allies, with the possibility of potentially triggering a trade war. He then outlined the difficulties that are created for the political institutions here as a result of the policies being pursued by that Government. That is quite a stark message to an Irish parliamentary committee from a former senior diplomat and a person who worked at the highest level in politics in Britain. I welcome his clear message and the clarity he delivers in that message.

It is worrying for us. As has been said by my colleagues, relations between Ireland and Britain are now at a very low level. For those of us who were in politics during that era, the one message that came across was the need for trust, and that is among the last words Mr. Powell used in his initial contribution. There was obviously great trust between John Major and Albert Reynolds and subsequently between Mr. Blair and Bertie Ahern. We listened to some of the Irish diplomats who were involved in negotiations at the time as well and the message I got was that one will not make progress unless there is trust between the Heads of Government. I presume that permeates down to official level. If there is no trust at political level between Heads of Government and the respective Ministers of the different Administrations, the official system will be poisoned as well in regard to the lack of trust between officials working on both sides of the Irish Sea. Bearing that in mind, would Mr. Powell put great emphasis on the progress having been made because of trust between the Governments at the time at official level, political level and particularly at Heads of Government level?

By and large, the unionist parties have trusted successive Conservative governments. With Mr. Powell's experience, does he think they will continue to have trust in Mr. Johnson since many of the commitments that have been made have not yet been honoured? Today, sadly, this country and, indeed, our islands suffer because the political institutions that were established under the Good Friday Agreement, which were endorsed in referenda North and South, are not operational and fully functional on behalf of the people. The will of the people is not being implemented in Northern Ireland due to the institutions not being in place.

Again, I sincerely Mr. Powell for his contribution in the past and for his ongoing commentary as well.