Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

For the last year, I have been raising the need to significantly increase the level of engagement on issues concerning Northern Ireland. The disturbances over the flag issue should serve as a major wake-up call for everyone that all is not well. Added to that are the ongoing efforts of criminal dissident elements who are trying to organise and perpetrate violence against the security forces and individuals. The evidence shows significant elements of the community in Northern Ireland are still excluded.

Many people look at the parties in power in the Executive and see partisan interests triumphing. There is no sense of a cross-party approach on some of the core issues facing the North, and that has been the case for some time. The work of promoting development and directly combating sectarianism has not been done with the required urgency. Something new is needed. Previous Governments worked very hard to win this peace and put in enormous efforts with parties to bring it about. Those hard-won gains could dissipate if something new and fresh is not developed now and if greater urgency is not shown in addressing communal exclusion and sectarianism and the gap between communities from different traditions.

The recent disturbances and increased activity by criminal elements show the need to give peace, reconciliation and development the same priority the Taoiseach's predecessors gave them. I am not talking about set-piece meetings or summits, I am talking about deep engagement with the issues and communities involved. There has not been a proper governmental response to the disturbances and the related issues. I have not seen any extra initiatives over and above what has happened to date to tackle the entrenched communal divide on the streets. Is the Taoiseach proposing in partnership with the British Government and the parties any fresh initiative over and above the ongoing meetings that are part of the institutional arrangements? What does he intend to do to respond to the present situation? Specifically, will the Taoiseach give a commitment to convene a special summit with all the political parties in the North to deal with these issues and chart out a pathway that de-escalates tensions and gives new energy to anti-sectarian initiatives?

This is more than contact, we need a new initiative here on a scale which may require investment but that will have a long-term impact, particularly for communities where there is significant social and economic under-provision and deprivation. Some of those communities are becoming fertile ground for those who wish to exploit these issues to cause violence and stir up sectarianism, exacerbating the existing divide.

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