Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 18 May 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
Shared Island Unit: Department of the Taoiseach (Resumed)
Ms Aingeal O?Donoghue:
In this jurisdiction we see engagement with the Oireachtas committee as being key at this stage. With regard to engagement in Northern Ireland, our approach is to look to periodic engagements with all of the political parties in Northern Ireland. We managed one live visit in the windows between the various Covid lockdowns. That was our approach then and it continues to be our approach. More broadly on Northern Ireland, I should add that since Easter the Taoiseach has spoken to the leaders of the political parties. There continues to be that type of systematic engagement. We have not developed ideas yet so I do not want to make it sound as though we are about to announce initiatives, and the committee might feel we should be. As we look to a phase of in-person meetings we are looking at how we might structure this in a more developed way, particularly building some themes around it, as I mentioned.