Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Regarding Northern representation in the House, what the parties to the Belfast Agreement agreed to was that:

... whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland, the power of the sovereign government with jurisdiction there shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions and shall be founded on the principles of full respect for, and equality of, civil, political, social and cultural rights, of freedom from discrimination for all citizens, and of parity of esteem and of just and equal treatment for the identity, ethos and aspirations of both communities;

If this is part of the Belfast Agreement, which both Governments agreed to, perhaps the two Houses of the Oireachtas should pass motions reminding future taoisigh that this means something when handing out the 11 nominations that the Constitution confers on each Taoiseach on a discretionary basis to ensure that some reality is given to this paper commitment.

Mr. Ian Marshall used to be a Senator. He was a unionist who was elected in a by-election to the House. Unfortunately, he was not reappointed. He was on our Brexit committee and he invited us to Belfast to interact with a large cross-section of social and economic groupings. He brought us to Stormont. I remember sitting in its Senate chamber, which is now empty and only ever used for committee meetings. It occurs to me that, if changes in architecture in Northern Ireland are going to happen, something equivalent or similar to a forum of some kind could be re-established as part of that architecture. I would be interested in hearing witnesses' reactions to this suggestion.

Since I am not a member of this committee and will not be involved in drafting the report, I appeal to its members. They may have their preferences. Some may have a unitary state radical republican perspective, others may have a different perspective, but I appeal to them not to close any door, but to leave every option open. I noted that, on the spectrum from Deputy McDonald to the Tánaiste, both have stated in their own way that they are open to a confederal model. This is not an opportunity to make "the best" the only option as far as anyone is concerned, but to leave open options and see whether we can engender a debate. When there was a proposal to abolish the Seanad, the slogan of the people who opposed abolition was "Open Seanad Éireann, Don't Close It". That is the point - we need to be more open and leave options open rather than being prescriptive.