Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to convey apologies on behalf of Deputy Brendan Smith who is not around today. There is a vote in the Seanad Chamber bit I think there is enough cover and this debate is too important for me to leave.

I thank Mr. Bruton for his contribution and for the work that he has done as Taoiseach of this country. I thank him for the preparatory work he did during his tenure as premier of this country, which paved the way for the formation of thinking and bringing Heads of State together not just on this island but in the UK. It is no minor feat to bring a Tory leader to the table, get the agreement that he sought and got from him, and secure the Sunningdale Declaration.

Part of the reason that the committee has asked Mr. Bruton and colleagues of his in here is to establish the background to the lead into the Good Friday Agreement. Certainly Senator Currie and I are big advocates for bringing in the architects of the Good Friday Agreement or the lead into that agreement in order to establish the complexities. We seek that because a narrative exists, and I am not trying to be derogatory when I say this, that we now have a conversation, and maybe a citizens' assembly, and a border poll sorted. Dealing with Northern Ireland has historically been quite complex. Mr. Bruton has gone beyond his term and referred to 200 years of history in his presentation but, unfortunately, I will not have time to negotiate all that here today.

Mr. Bruton is a man with an extensive knowledge of history, which he has shown over the years. Too many people like him have left the offices of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Department of Foreign Affairs and left these Houses so we do not get the benefit of all of their knowledge and wisdom. We do not make enough use of all that knowledge and wisdom that they brought to the table over the years. I feel even to this day, in terms of the relationships that they opened in the UK and Northern Ireland, we should have made better use of them. We should find a forum in which Mr. Bruton and all the other former Taoisigh, Tánaistí and Ministers for Finance can contribute because they built up so many relationships over the years. I think that their input and the rebuilding of those relationships where their counterparts are still around maybe in the UK could bear fruit for us in the next number of years.

Mr. Bruton made an awful lot of statements in his presentation and I cannot go into them all but I shall start by commenting on the lead into the Good Friday Agreement in which he was involved. From all of his deliberations, what lessons does he feel that we, as politicians, have not learned? Are there areas that we should examine that are not currently on the table? Is our approach to dealing with Northern Ireland on the right track? What is his opinion of the work of the shared island unit? What is his opinion of its approach? Does he think the approach will delve into unionist communities to get responses and overall get an understanding of where this country lies, North and South of the Border, economically, health wise, educationally and across the board?