Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Ministers of State at that Department on their appointments, and I wish them well in their responsibilities.

I welcome the statement made at the end of September by the British Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, to the effect that there will be a new round of cross-party negotiations involving the Irish and British Governments. I also welcome the follow-up statement made by the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. Important and contentious issues must be resolved, specifically parades, flags and contending with the past. I have argued for most of the past year that both Governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, must take a central, leading role in the talks to drive them to a successful and early conclusion.

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