Ms Liz O'Donnell:

I thank Dr. Farry. It is good to hear from him again.

The reform of the institutions in Northern Ireland is very much up to the parties there. If they can work together to get back talking and meeting, perhaps they can discuss things that would help them to work in a more effective way. I certainly believe that the blocking mechanism was meant in good faith so that minority parties would not be railroaded but it has turned into a situation where people can just say they will not go along with something because they are not getting what they want. That is a type of ransom and walk-out politics which is not helpful to anybody. Parties disagree frequently on things in Leinster House but they do not walk out of Dáil Éireann because they do not agree with something that is on the political agenda. It is very important that the institutions work as they were originally meant to do.

I reread my original private copy of the agreement, which I still have. The declaration of support in the opening preamble of the agreement states:

We, the participants in the multi-party negotiations, believe that the agreement we have negotiated offers a truly historic opportunity for a new beginning.

It mentions the "deep legacy" of "the tragedies of the past". That is very strong language of collective support for the agreement. I am aware that the DUP was not there but we need to get the parties of Northern Ireland to very much commit to work together again. It occurs to me that many people have not read the agreement. I believe that members of the British Government have not done so at various stages, such was their lack of knowledge and understanding of what had been agreed.

If I was to make one suggestion for the 25th anniversary of the agreement, it would be that it be republished and delivered to every house. It is not set in stone but it captures something pretty special and historic, in that it was an agreement among all of the parties and the two governments to work together for a better future and to end the conflict. It is a charter for the way forward and for how things can change. For example, the particular arrangements for power-sharing in Northern Ireland were tailor-made for a post-conflict situation as a form of forced coalition for the situation we were dealing with. It may well be that as time moves on, there can be a normal opposition-and-government situation in Northern Ireland, but we are not there yet. It is up to the parties in Northern Ireland to figure that out and work together towards a better arrangement.

I note the growth of the Alliance Party, which is very interesting. Dr. Farry will recall that during the negotiations, the Alliance Party was frequently underestimated and perhaps disregarded by the bigger parties. There was a tradition of the bigger parties being the big beasts which controlled the agenda. I am delighted to see that the Alliance Party has grown the middle ground of people who are neither green nor orange but are somewhere in the middle. That is only to the advantage of Northern Ireland. In particular, I wish to congratulate Naomi Long on her ongoing success in growing the party. I am delighted to see that. John Alderdice was also a very important part of the negotiations. He had a very steady and moderate approach to everything and was very helpful to the two governments.