Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Comhréiteach stairiúil a bhí ann - a compromise between conflicting political positions following decades of conflict, the roots of which are to be found in the British Government's involvement in our country. For the first time since partition, the Agreement brought peace, stability, hope and the opportunity for a better future for the people of Ireland. It most directly affected the North but it has also positively impacted on this part of the island and on the diaspora. It ushered in 15 years of relative peace. Seasann próiseas síochána na hÉireann mar shampla do áiteanna eile ina bhfuil troid.

Senator George Mitchell, who did such a remarkable job of charting a difficult course through the negotiations, correctly anticipated that agreeing the deal was the easy bit. The hard part was going to be implementing it, and he was right. The twists and turns from 10 April 1998 to May 2013 have been many. At times, the process has collapsed. At other times, it looked as if securocrats, naysayers and begrudgers would succeed and the whole process would unravel. However, with patience and perseverance, difficult issues, including those of weapons and policing, were overcome.

Along the way the UUP was replaced by the DUP as the largest Unionist party. Few imagined Sinn Féin and the DUP ever reaching agreement on the institutions, but that is what happened. Mr. Ian Paisley Sr. and the Deputy First Minister, Mr. Martin McGuinness MLA, demonstrated enormous courage and vision to make power sharing work. Two years ago, an inclusive, democratically elected local government, with all-island interlocking implementation bodies and a Council of Ministers, successfully completed a full term of office.

Of course, this does not mean that everything is working smoothly. Making peace is a process, not an event. However, unlike previous efforts, which were largely imposed by the British with the support of successive Irish governments and which excluded sections of political opinion, the negotiations that created the Good Friday Agreement were genuinely inclusive. The Agreement also addressed the broad range of issues that had been previously ignored. It deals with constitutional issues, political matters and institutional issues. It put in place a mechanism to hold a Border poll to address the issue of partition and to achieve Irish unity democratically and peacefully. It also set up political structures that provide for the sharing of power while including checks and balances to prevent a recurrence of past political abuses.

The underlying ethos of the Agreement is equality, agus cuireadh bearta i bhfeidhm chun comhionannas a bhaint amach. This is reflected in the fact that the word "equality" is mentioned 21 times in the Good Friday Agreement. It is not mentioned at all in previous agreements, for example, in the Sunningdale Agreement. Since then there have been further negotiations, mostly notably at Weston Park, St. Andrews and at Hillsborough Castle.

Regrettably, once the political institutions were stabilised and the hard issues of policing and weapons dealt with, the Government here took its eye off the issue and took its eye off the prize. The British Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government has also not honoured commitments as it should have. Consequently, there are a number of outstanding issues, including a bill of rights for the North, an all-island charter of rights, the establishment of the North-South consultative forum, and the introduction of an Acht na Gaeilge. The British Government has also failed to act on its Weston Park commitment to hold an independent inquiry into the killing of the human rights lawyer, Mr. Pat Finucane. At the same time, the securocrats continue to abuse human rights, most clearly in the continued detention of Ms Marian Price and Mr. Martin Corey. Both governments have also failed to address the need for a victim-centred truth and reconciliation process.

The greatest threat to the Agreement at this time comes from the British Government. The decisions taken by the British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron MP, and his colleagues are seriously undermining the Good Friday Agreement and the political institutions. At the centre of this is a failure to support a society moving out of decades of conflict. Citizens and communities need hope and prosperity, which demands economic investment. Citizens whose lives have been blighted by war or by generational sectarianism and division need to see that peace can change their lives and those of their children. That is why all of the parties at St Andrews agreed to a significant peace dividend and investment of £18 billion.

One of the first actions of the current British Government was to renege on this commitment. This decision removed from the Executive the ability to deliver a major capital investment programme which would have had the dual effect of providing much needed employment in the construction industry while bringing our roads, hospitals and schools up to the necessary standard.

The next action of the British Government was to cut the block grant by £4 billion. Within the fiscal constraints of the Executive, the parties managed to raise some additional revenue and tried to offset the worst effects of the cut to the block grant, but this approach clearly stretched its finances to the limit. The British Government has also refused to devolve powers on corporation tax.

Now, the British Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government, in pursuit of austerity, is seeking to impose £1 billion of welfare cuts that will take millions out of the local economy and hurt disadvantaged and vulnerable families. This is unacceptable, as the Deputy First Minister, Mr. Martin McGuinness MLA, recently told the British Prime Minister very directly. He also briefed the Tánaiste on these matters.

Last week, the Deputy First Minister, Mr. Martin McGuinness MLA, and the First Minister, Mr. Peter Robinson MLA, also met the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to discuss an economic package for the Executive. It was another bad meeting. Ní féidir le seo leanúint ar aghaidh. The British Government is seriously undermining the work of the Executive and of the political institutions.

Despite all this the Executive has achieved much, including £8 billion of investment and the creation of thousands of jobs through inward investment.

Today Allstate has announced that it will create 650 jobs in the North, which is good work by the Executive and Allstate. However, the Executive's ability to demonstrate that peace can deliver real economic change is being seriously damaged, particularly by cuts to welfare benefits, and this must be challenged. We are challenging the British Government, but the Irish Government is a coequal guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements. It urgently needs to intervene and challenge this foolish and short-sighted approach by the British Government. It needs a strategy to keep the London Government to its obligations under the Good Friday Agreement and remove the threat to the Executive and institutions created by its cuts agenda.

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