Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we recognise progress has been made. Deputy Micheál Martin will remember, as he was directly involved, that there was a time when it was stop-go with the institutions in the North. They were up and running, before being suspended and are now up and running again.

Since then there has been a prolonged period, including an election period, where the Northern Ireland Assembly has been running, the Executive has been operating and we have seen increased devolution. We have also seen improvements in several areas of the economy, tourism and so on. This is important for the normalisation of society and a de-escalation of the security apparatus and environment and so on. It is important to acknowledge that progress has been made.

I agree with Deputy Martin that Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society. Let us consider Belfast, the number of peace walls still in existence there and the number of divisions throughout the community. There is a considerable amount of work to be done to tackle sectarianism. One of the great strengths of the Good Friday Agreement is that it allows for a mutual respect and a respect for both identities. That must be handled with great sensitivity. There is no point in replacing one form of triumphalism for another or one form of victory for another. We must work towards a shared society in Northern Ireland. As Deputy Crowe noted, Belfast is a shared working space for the people who live there and Northern Ireland is a shared space. We must work towards that shared future and society.

Much work has been done on the North-South side. This morning I referred to the 50 meetings which have been on bread-and-butter issues including education, health and co-operation on transport. We have also seen the progress that you have made, a Cheann Comhairle, with the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly in bringing together the two parliamentary bodies. All of this represents progress but we must ensure there is no going back.

What we have seen in recent weeks has something of a recall of the past about it. The images of burning cars from Belfast are the wrong images to be communicating internationally for Northern Ireland and for this part of the island. We need to work together to ensure that progress is maintained. In the first instance the political leaders in Northern Ireland, including those in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive, must work as one in order that there is no return to the ways of the past. It is also important to appreciate that the numbers involved in recent weeks have been relatively small. We need the Police Service of Northern Ireland to get on top of it. Respect and support for the police service is vital. As far as the two Governments are concerned, we intend to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that progress is made. Certainly this is the approach that I intend to take on behalf of the Government.

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