Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to open this debate on Northern Ireland. The House has just agreed an all-party motion in support of the Ballymurphy families and their quest for the truth about what happened to their loved ones who were killed over the course of a number of terrible days in Ballymurphy in August 1971. Their stories are a stark reminder of the horrors of the Troubles and the unfinished business of the past.

We must also recognise, however, how far we have come. Bilateral relations between the UK and Ireland have never been stronger and they continue to mature and deepen. These relations have been cemented through the highly successful and significant reciprocal visits of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland and President Michael D. Higgins to the United Kingdom. More recently, the visit of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to the north west was another significant and poignant milestone.

When the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, and I signed a joint statement in 2012, it was a very deliberate statement of intent. We wanted to set out a roadmap of closer co-operation over the next ten years. We mapped out, in the most comprehensive way ever, a structured process of engagement, activity and outcomes between our two Governments. This is underpinned by annual summits where we both review progress and an ongoing programme of engagement at ministerial and senior official level. When the UK Prime Minister and I met last month in Downing Street, we renewed our commitment to this process and raised our level of ambition. We agreed to build on the success of co-operation initiatives already undertaken and those that are under way. Last year, Ministers from Dublin, Westminster and Stormont travelled to Singapore on an international joint trade and investment mission, the first of its kind. David Cameron and I both agree there is more business like this to be done for our mutual benefit. This includes business with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in areas such as infrastructure, energy, marine resources and scientific research.

Elements of this agenda can also be progressed through structures established under the Good Friday Agreement, including the British-Irish Council. I have had the honour of attending all nine scheduled plenary meetings of the Council since becoming Taoiseach. When I chaired the most recent meeting in Dublin on 19 June last, we dealt with relevant practical business on the common social policy challenges we face around substance abuse. The UK Prime Minister and I also discussed the importance of the provisions of the Stormont House Agreement for dealing with the past. In that context, we discussed a number of legacy cases, including the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, Ballymurphy and the Pat Finucane case. I impressed upon the UK Prime Minister our desire to find a way forward on these.

I also outlined the progress that we had made in the provision of information to the coroner's inquest into the Kingsmill massacre.

We also took the opportunity to discuss our shared agenda with regard to the decade of commemorations, including the Ulster Covenant, the Great War and the Easter Rising. Since I became Taoiseach, I have been determined that we should use this extraordinary period, which contains so many centenaries, not only to honour the past in a respectful way, but also to reflect on our shared heritage and sacrifices. I was privileged to visit the war graves in Flanders to honour all those Irish and British soldiers who died during the First World War. President Higgins and the Prince of Wales similarly joined in a solemn ceremony to pay our two nations' respects earlier this year in Gallipoli. We look forward next year to marking the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in a very respectful way as part of the extensive 2016 programme that we have put in place. The centrepiece of this programme will be the Easter Rising commemorations and it will be a multifaceted programme of State ceremonial events, cultural activities and art and historical exhibitions. I want this to be an inclusive, respectful programme with the active involvement of young people, the acknowledgement of the role of women and the engagement of our global diaspora.

As is the case with British-Irish relations, a practical approach to real world policy and economic issues is also informing the work of the North-South Ministerial Council. There have been 20 plenary meetings of the council since its establishment under the Good Friday Agreement and I am glad to say that I have led the Irish delegation on nine occasions, most recently in Dublin on 5 June last. Supporting the work of the council and the work of the North-South bodies, Ministers and officials continue to deepen our engagement with counterparts in the North on issues that will directly benefit all of us who live on this island. There is more business to be done here as well. I regret that the A5 road project, a strategically important piece of infrastructure, has not progressed substantially because of delays in Northern Ireland. Accessibility to all parts of the island is a fundamentally important issue for both economies, dependent as we are on exports, tourism and the easiest possible movement of goods and people. This kind of infrastructure will help us to win more investments.

Due to the fact that I am ambitious for North-South relations, I am ambitious also that if there is a resolute and unwavering leadership North and South, this island could accelerate exponentially cross-Border economic co-operation and the sharing of services. I know that there is an appetite, not only among businesses along the Border, but also among investors and potential investors all across this island, to see greater coherence between the two jurisdictions to facilitate in a better way economic growth.I am impressed, for example, by the ambitious thinking that is being done by the Confederation of British Industry, CBI, in the North and IBEC with regard to the all-island investment project. I met with both the CBI and IBEC along with business community representatives when I visited Belfast in March of this year, my 12th official visit to the North since taking office. This project envisions an island of 10 million people and is looking at the kind of road infrastructure, energy market and digital connectivity that we will need to service economies and societies of that scale. It also looks at how we can optimise a Belfast-Dublin economic corridor and market that internationally under "Brand Ireland". I want to see the Northern Ireland Executive finding a resolution to its current political impasse so that it can devote the time and creative thinking needed to drive real economic growth and social development both within Northern Ireland and on a North-South basis.

It is not as if we lack good examples of where co-operation works. Our investment in the inland waterways has been a remarkable success. In February, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, announced the approval of further restoration by Waterways Ireland of a 2.5 km stretch of the Ulster Canal at an expected cost of €2 million. Tourism Ireland's all-island focus allows us to market this kind of investment in a mutually beneficial way. We are experiencing record levels of tourism on the island. Total overseas visitors to Northern Ireland in 2014 grew by 6%, with holiday makers increasing by 11% year on year. In this jurisdiction, total overseas visitors are up by 12% in the first five months of the year, compared with the same period last year.

There are many other examples of progress across the North-South Ministerial Council's work programme. In respect of agriculture and rural development, progress is being made on the delivery of an all-island animal health and welfare strategy action plan. InterTradeIreland is working to encourage and stimulate greater co-operation and to increase applications to EU framework programmes, including the EU's research and innovation programme, called Horizon 2020. There are very tangible and mutually beneficial operational programmes being put in place between our two health services to ensure that we optimise the specialist health care assets that we have on the island. This makes eminent sense. We need to look continually for ways to work smarter together. Our strong joint Rugby World Cup bid for 2023 is a very tangible example of where we are working together against international competition to win occasions like that.

While both jurisdictions on the island may approach some issues from differing perspectives, such as the UK's membership of the EU, we share an interest in how that debate progresses and ensuring that the best interests of the island as a whole are protected. There are wider EU and global challenges that we will be better equipped to manage working collaboratively together than separately. The Government's position here is clear: we want the UK to remain a central part of the EU. This is because of the interdependence of our two economies and labour markets, the €1 billion trade in goods and services between the two countries and the strong links between our two societies. Critically, however, we should remember that the EU has been an active political and financial supporter of the Northern Ireland peace process. This support continues through the EU PEACE and INTERREG programmes, which could see almost €500 million invested in the region for the period to 2020. It is essential that we take all steps, and remove all barriers, to ensure that we can maximise the draw-down under these and other EU programmes like Horizon 2020.

Let me also say this. The months ahead are not a time for Northern Ireland to be without a functioning Executive and Assembly with proactive institutions that can grasp opportunities and face up to responsibilities and challenges. These are important times for the United Kingdom. If one looks at Scotland, one sees a significantly changed political landscape, an agenda of greater devolution and an ongoing dialogue about the balance of powers between Westminster and Edinburgh. If we look elsewhere in the UK, we see proposals for greater empowerment of regions, not just in Wales, but potentially the creation of other economic powerhouses. The UK itself is rethinking its relationship with the EU in a fundamental way. All of these developments have potentially profound impacts for Northern Ireland. They are the business of government and are issues that people will expect their Ministers and their elected representatives to be monitoring, managing and influencing.

This brings me to the Stormont House Agreement. On 20 January this year, there were statements in this House on Northern Ireland. That debate took place in the context of the achievement of the Stormont House Agreement of December 2014. There was a broad welcome in the House that day for the Stormont House Agreement and recognition of its importance in terms of helping to set a path back to stability and to effective partnership Government in Belfast. I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, for his sterling efforts over ten weeks in contributing to that debate along with everybody else who played his or her part.

Such agreements are hard won. They are a demonstration of a collective effort from across the political spectrum in the North, with the support of the two governments, for the sake of the greater good. The Stormont House Agreement was no different in this regard. In the weeks that followed the agreement, serious work was done by all parties to begin to implement the agreement and to meet the commitments made on 23 December.

We have continued to act in good faith and in the hope and expectation that others will also. However, what is very clear is that, if key parties to the agreement withdraw their support for the financial package that underpinned it, the totality of the agreement is at risk and the very purpose of the agreement - to restore stability and effective partnership Government in Belfast - is undermined. Unfortunately, this is the current position. The ongoing impasse over welfare reform among the Northern Ireland Executive parties is having a direct impact on the prospects for implementing the Stormont House Agreement in its totality and the positive momentum created by the agreement is being eroded as a consequence.

The Irish Government has always been clear that specific circumstances pertain in Northern Ireland. That is why, last year, we committed to the Stormont House talks process and why we continue on an ongoing basis to commit to, build on and protect the principles and institutions of the foundational Good Friday Agreement. The Stormont House Agreement explicitly recognises that there are additional costs which are created in a divided society such as Northern Ireland. I am in no doubt that the British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, recognises this also, which is why the agreement provided additional spending power of almost £2 billion provided by the British Government.

Like many other governments, the British Government will face budgetary challenges in the coming years which will no doubt affect Northern Ireland acutely. Clearly, therefore, stability and an effective power-sharing government in Belfast will be an essential backdrop to any serious, concerted approach to advocate for and address Northern Ireland's specific needs, to repairing the divisions of the past and to building a prosperous future for all the people of the island coming out of 30 years of conflict.

What I have not seen in recent months is the leadership and strategic vision required by those who are now delaying implementation of the agreement in its totality. The Stormont House Agreement is an overwhelmingly positive agreement for Northern Ireland and North-South relations. Delay and indecision serve no useful purpose and damage Northern Ireland's short-term and longer term prospects. We recall that the twin aims of the agreement were advancing the reconciliation agenda and economic growth. The Irish Government remains fully committed to both and the implementation of the agreement as part of that commitment.

I raised issues relating to the legacy of the past with the Prime Minister because I am also ambitious about reconciliation. The improved Irish-British relationship has been both a catalyst for positive change in Northern Ireland and a beneficiary of that change. In May I visited Armagh where I met the Kingsmill families who had suffered so grievously. I have also met representatives of the Dublin and Monaghan families who continue to seek access to information held by the British Government on that appalling atrocity. Last month ongoing work by the Independent Commission on the Location of Victims' Remains to find the bodies of the disappeared - those murdered and buried secretly by the IRA - resulted in the finding of human remains in County Meath, finally giving some form of closure to the families of those killed. Earlier today we convened together in this House in solidarity with the Ballymurphy families, who have been present for some time in the Visitors Gallery.

The legacy of the Troubles rests heavily on so many families across the island. In the Good Friday Agreement the parties committed to a fresh start and the achievement of reconciliation as the best way to honour those who had died and who had suffered. In my meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, last month we reaffirmed the importance of establishing a new, credible and comprehensive framework to deal with Troubles-related deaths. Implementation of the Stormont House Agreement is key to this essential work. In late 2014 I met Mairia Cahill and heard her harrowing account of abuse and the brutal reality of IRA paramilitary control within her community. The emerging picture of systemic sexual abuse by paramilitary organisations and how it was handled is a different but nonetheless horrific manifestation of those dark days to which we can never return.

The work of reconciliation and economic progress in the North are hampered by episodes of law breaking such as we saw last Monday in Belfast. Some people have commented that the current political impasse in fiscal issues is a form of progress as it relates to real world political issues, not issues relating to sectarian differences, yet we still have people burning effigies of democratically elected representatives and flags and symbols of identity. We have people trapped in their own homes, afraid to leave their houses. We have entire new generations growing up behind walls and still have an unacceptable level of hate crime and sectarianism in Northern Ireland, not just in one community. We were supposed to be seeing a normalisation of politics and society in Northern Ireland. I condemn these activities last weekend.

So many years after the Good Friday Agreement, sadly, there is still a great distance to travel. The Stormont House Agreement can help us to get there. I call on all parties in this House and all representatives, as well as all other parties to the agreements, to honour their word and meet their commitments in full.

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