Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I join with my colleagues in congratulating both Governments and compliment members of the DUP and Sinn Féin on the role they played in the negotiations, along with the other parties who were not just peripheral partners, but who were involved However, when the dust settles there may be questions as to whether that involvement was constructive enough.

When we had statements on Northern Ireland in the past, they concerned blockages, tragedies and major incidents, such as the Omagh bombing. It is unfortunate that became the raison d'être in this House. Any time there is a crisis in Northern Ireland, we have statements on the matter in the House. We need to take cognisance of the fact that this is on ongoing, evolving situation. The major lesson which has been learned is that we let the 1998 Good Friday Agreement go on autopilot, not necessarily at an institutional level in Stormont but at a county council level, a cross-Border level and a grassroots level. There was tremendous empowerment of cross-Border relationships over a period of time prior to 1998. We have to get back to basics. We do not have to rebuild that infrastructure but we have to acknowledge the work which has been done at that level.

We are making statements on Northern Ireland here today but if one asked a member of the public from Athlone or any area further south, such as the constituency of the Minister, Deputy Martin, in Cork one will find there is an attitude towards Northern Ireland, namely, that we should let it look after itself. Many people just do not want to know about it. We have to change that mindset. In changing it we have to reach out to our colleagues across the Border and not just at Assembly, Leinster House or Stormont level. We have to reach out through the North-South Ministerial Council. People on the ground are looking for more transparency at those meetings. They are also looking for a better, more constructive mechanism than two or three meetings a year. It is very important to keep it going. While it is also important to examine strand two, strand three, which involves the east-west negotiations and the British-Irish Council, must not be ignored.

We have to be careful of jargon; we could use words like "process". In moving the machinery of what has been built on in the past 12 years, we have to create, as Deputy Timmins mentioned, a synergy among cross-Border groups. I will not use the term "quango" because it would be an insult to much of the work done by groups such as the North West Region Cross Border Group. We cannot have great work going on at a Northern level and a southern level but not have a meeting in the middle. Simple things such as tax, entitlements, welfare, people who reside in east Donegal and work in Derry and people who live in Derry and work across the Border in Donegal, Monaghan or Louth are issues to be considered. There is a mass movement of people and we have to take cognisance of that.

It is no longer Northern Ireland; the six county block no longer exists as an entity. There is public policy which we need to move forward regarding getting institutions and public services harmonised on both sides of the Border. Currency is an issue which we cannot harmonise but we can harmonise public service provision. These are the challenges. We have an obligation in this House to do that. It is also an obligation in the framework of the 1998 Good Friday agreement

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