Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues, Senator Blaney and the Cathaoirleach, I welcome Lord Empey to our committee.

I also want to put on record our appreciation of the work of Lord Empey and his colleagues in the Ulster Unionist Party.

I am glad Lord Empey mentioned the role of councillors prior to 1998. I remember my late party colleague, the late Senator Paddy McGowan in Donegal who, in every political conversation within our parliamentary party, brought up the need for cross-Border co-operation. Lord Empey's colleague in Fermanagh, Bertie Kerr, was a great advocate at the same time for co-operation between Fermanagh and Cavan. Lord Empey would have heard me speak in Stormont at the weekend where I mentioned the political courage showed by David Trimble when he signed the agreement, while facing fierce criticism from within his own party. This country and further afield owes him a debt of gratitude. At that time, we were fortunate that in the run up to 1998, there were other political giants such as the late John Hume and the late Seamus Mallon. They all showed great political courage, leadership and vision.

Lord Empey mentioned the changes with the St. Andrews Agreement following on from the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement in referendums North and South. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern mentioned the other day that in the Good Friday Agreement, provision is made for changes. It is a living document. Changes are provided for. However, he cautioned against the idea of trying to introduce changes at the moment until the Assembly and Executive are restored. Hopefully, this will not be too far away because we all know that for the benefit of the people of Northern Ireland and of everyone on this island, we want the Assembly and Executive restored and the North-South Ministerial Council meeting as well. I remember working with Lord Empey in plenary sessions of the North-South Ministerial Council. I always knew that he was very progressive in the area of trade and investment. Again, it showed us what could be done when we work together. Thankfully, since 1998, the all-Ireland economy has grown so much and there is so much more to be achieved by having institutions back up and running. Would Lord Empey caution against the idea of trying to introduce changes to the governance structures or requirements regarding the formation of the Executive prior to it being back up and running? Hopefully, that will happen as soon as possible.