Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I want to congratulate my party colleague, Mitchel McLaughlin MLA, who was appointed as the first non-Unionist speaker of the Northern Assembly last week. I have known Mitchell for decades and know he will be non-party political and rigorously impartial and is more than capable of doing an excellent job. His appointment sends out a strong message of inclusiveness and I hope all parties of this House support this hugely symbolic move.

The Stormont House Agreement thankfully represents progress. I do not think it is outstanding. I do not think it is a wonderful agreement. To quote "Mary Poppins", I do not think it is a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious agreement but it is agreement and is moving things forward which is the most important thing. This is the message that needs to come out of this debate - that we are actually moving things forward and things are progressing for people. It is a deal that will hopefully help and support the most vulnerable in society and deliver additional investment to the northern economy. The agreement also makes headway in respect of dealing with the legacy of the past, contentious parades and flags, symbols and cultural identity.

However, the agreement fell short of being comprehensive because the British Government, sadly with the support of the Irish Government, refused to meet its obligations to hold an inquiry into the killing of lawyer Pat Finucane, legislate for an Irish language Act or a bill of rights or address other outstanding commitments.

One key question that many Irish people are asking is why this Government turned away from its commitments to the Barron inquiry requirements on the Monaghan and Dublin bombings, the Pat Finucane inquiry, and the Ballymurphy massacre independent panel? Why did it exclude any mention of these events in the so-called "take-it-or-leave" paper that it co-authored with the British Government? Does the Irish Government still not want the families of the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings to get truth and justice? This has been said to me by some relatives. Is the Irish Government not in favour of establishing an independent investigation into the murder of human rights activist and lawyer Pat Finucane? Why did the Irish Government co-author a draft agreement that ostensibly accepted the primacy of British national security interests over truth recovery for Irish citizens? Does this Government want to allow British national security interests to put a dead hand over the quest for truth and justice?

How is that in the people of Ireland's national interest? They supported the British Government's efforts to close families off from accessing inquests into the deaths of victims of the conflict through the Coroner's Court, the only option open to them at present. This approach undermined the integrity of the Good Friday, Weston Park, St. Andrew’s, and Hillsborough Castle agreements, of which both Governments were supposed to be co-guarantors. We could have made progress on securing the Pat Finucane inquiry, the Irish Language Act, the bill of rights and other outstanding matters had the Irish Government done the right thing and stood up for Irish national and democratic interests. Given this did not happen during the negotiations, can the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, confirm that he will work with us in the future to secure progress on these issues? What are his proposals to progress the other outstanding matters that were part of the agreements? How will he work to secure an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane? I understand why the British Government does not want an inquiry to proceed but I cannot understand why the Irish Government does not support it.

The Tory-led government in London continues to brutally implement so-called welfare reform throughout Britain. That is the background to the agreement. It is attempting to unleash the same policies in the North of Ireland, while looking over its shoulder at the upcoming Westminster elections and courting the DUP in the event of a hung parliament. By its passivity, the Irish Government blindly pandered to these Tory desires. The big issue was the block grant, which is being cut by £1.5 billion. There was no support from the Irish Government in this regard. Correct me if I am wrong but it appears to have become a cheerleader for British Conservative austerity in the North and attempted to nationalise austerity and bring it to all corners of this island.

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