Mr. Gerry Adams:

I wish the outgoing Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, well, but with the change of Taoiseach, it should dust down the Good Friday Agreement and develop a strategy to see it fully implemented. That means engaging with the British Government in a serious and strategic way. It also requires, as was done successfully when the danger of a hard border on the back of Brexit was a real threat, harnessing international supports, leading to the support of our friends in the European Union. The flag the Irish Government flew in all of that was the Good Friday Agreement. Every single engagement the Irish Government had with the leaders of other European states, the Commission and so on, was all about protecting the Good Friday Agreement. It works when you do it and there are concentrated diplomatic initiatives or a series of initiatives. I would argue that needs to be developed. We have public servants, very skilled civil servants and very experienced diplomats. They should be brought in and their best advice sought. We have friends in Irish America. They have been friends since, I suppose, the Irish first went there. Some have always kept faith. President Clinton broke with the previous policy, which was essentially a pro-British policy, and senior powerful politicians on Capitol Hill have made it clear they will not tolerate the British Government breaching or fracturing or bringing in a hard border or destroying any other aspects of the Good Friday Agreement. We need now to harness that in a positive way.

We have no charter of rights. That was a commitment. We cannot blame the Brits for that. We have no charter of rights in this State. Part of the agreement was a charter of rights in each state. Good, hard work was done in the North but the DUP and others continued to prevent it from getting through committee and so on and so forth. That would not be the case here, I presume. Come at it positively, look for what can and should be done, and enlist international supports in pursuit of all of that.

When answering questions, we could all say something better if we had hindsight at the meetings, so I would not pay too much heed to what Mr. Ahern is quoted as having said. The fact is, there is going to be a referendum. The fact is there is a mechanism for that referendum. We need to ensure it is developed, built, prepared for, inclusive, that people take control and we use citizens' assemblies and other democratic forums to make sure the result is one which the people will benefit from, and that includes bringing in the best expert advice on all issues that are concerns for folks, whether it is health services, the economy, rights, or, as I said previously, fears that elements of unionism may have.

Let us do all of that. You are right; I am not going to comment further on it. Clearly the British Government has had its hand in a lot of the subversive activity, particularly on the loyalist front. It actually set up many of the organisations like the UVF and the UDA and so on. That is not to say that there are not loyalists who independently have their own views. The Northern state was established as the result of a coup concocted in the Tory committee rooms in London. That hand is there yet. Let them play all those little silly games; let us focus very clearly on the future and making this an organic process. The change is happening as we sit here. Let us get more and more people involved. In particular, let us get the parties and the Government of this State involved in doing that.