Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the former Taoiseach for coming in to the committee to share his insights on the negotiations leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. He paid tribute to the political parties in the North that took risks to ensure that an agreement was reached, and to the international parties who played a huge role as well. There is one point that the former Taoiseach mentioned that I want to focus on, which is the close co-operation between the British and Irish Governments. I suppose it is no secret that the current relationship between the two governments is far from ideal and is probably at its lowest ebb in a quite a number of years. Does the former Taoiseach think that the Tory Government is undermining the Good Friday Agreement, particularly the human rights aspects of it? It has resisted bringing in human rights legislation and it has also subverted aspects of the agreement concerning victims of the conflict. It has refused victims access to inquests in court and has given amnesty to members of its own armed forces. I ask the former Taoiseach to dwell on the importance of a good relationship between the two governments as co-guarantors of the Agreement, and to comment on whether he thinks the Tory Government is undermining the agreement with its legacy legislation.