Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to meet Mr. Powell virtually. I thank him for his contribution to the Good Friday Agreement. We in the committee very much want to find our way back to the principles of the Good Friday Agreement regarding consensus and compromise. I follow Mr. Powell on Twitter and he had an interesting thread a couple of weeks ago about the principle of consensus and community consent.

Mr. Powell might elaborate on that point.

He referred to the current Prime Minister in his contribution. Does he think we will only find our way back to those principles when Boris Johnson is not there? Does he think somebody in the Tory Party is going to replace him and take the same approach? We have seen an attack on the fundamental principles of the Good Friday Agreement through the Northern Ireland protocol. Northern Ireland did not vote for Brexit. It supported the protocol in the elections but that is not being respected. There is talk about consent but despite every single party on this island being against the legacy proposals, they are being introduced. The UK Government is talking about respect for the Good Friday Agreement and, at the same time, undermining the European Convention on Human Rights. Perhaps Mr. Powell would reflect on that and the future of the union. I have another question but I will allow Mr. Powell to respond to those questions.