Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It is that sense of permanent crisis, however, that makes normal politics impossible and allows extremism to thrive. In this motion, Sinn Féin calls for the re-establishment of the institutions of the Agreement at the earliest date and the Labour Party supports that call. However, given recent and not so recent events, it is reasonable to conclude that Sinn Féin's political agenda is not based, even on an interim basis, on power-sharing within Northern Ireland or the re-establishment of the executive and assembly. These are merely the hostages it takes and for which it demands a ransom in the form of concessions on issues such as the "on the runs", restorative justice projects and so on.

If Sinn Féin really wanted to defend the Good Friday Agreement, why did it negotiate a deal with the DUP last year that compromised the integrity and balance of the strand one power-sharing arrangements that were agreed by all parties when the Agreement was negotiated? If Sinn Féin truly believed that a cross-community government for Northern Ireland was one of the key elements in combating sectarianism and developing reconciliation, would it first insist on deals for "on the runs", further amnesties for prisoners and face-saving community restorative justice projects to hide a future climb-down on their policing stance, before agreeing to re-enter the assembly or executive?

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