Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the importance of this debate and thank all Members for their contributions. I want once again to agree with Deputy Adams about having regular and frequent debates on Northern Ireland in the House. That is a matter, of course, for the Business Committee, but it has the support of myself and my party. It is not the first time I have said that on the basis that Northern Ireland is a shared concern and priority for all sides of the House. This has long been the case and was very much reflected in the very strong consensus this afternoon on the imperative to proceed on the basis of the Good Friday Agreement. The Government views as a solemn responsibility its role and mandate as co-guarantor of the Agreement. As provided for in the programme for Government, we have been unstinting in our efforts to uphold the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and to advance the full implementation of all its provisions. This we will continue to do working closely with the British Government and all the other parties to the peace process. The Government's engagement and commitment has been constant in times of stability and of crisis.

Obviously, there have been intensified contacts with the parties and the British Government by the Taoiseach and me recently. It has been increasingly clear in recent weeks that the situation was extremely serious. The circumstances which led to the resignation of the deputy First Minister on 9 January are to be regretted. Elections will now take place on Thursday, 2 March. In my conversation yesterday with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland we agreed that both Governments should continue to work closely together in the weeks ahead. Looking to the post-election period, a new power-sharing Executive will need to be formed within the limited statutory timeframe. The assembly election campaign is now under way. On behalf of the Government, I have urged all parties in the election to be measured and responsible in their rhetoric so that the political institutions of the Good Friday Agreement will not be damaged in any way, in particular in the longer term. I will continue to underline this imperative in the weeks ahead in support of the institutions of the Agreement and the principles on which it stands. We must never forget that the Good Friday Agreement and the political institutions for which it provides - the power-sharing Executive, the assembly, the North-South institutions and the east-west institutions - were finally achieved in 1998 following decades of horrendous violence, murder, fear and a break down in social fabric which suffered in particular by both communities across Northern Ireland. Following the assembly election, it is critical that each of the institutions of the Agreement can operate, deliver and deal again with the issues of concern to people and that this should happen smoothly and in a prompt manner. I acknowledge in this regard the contribution of the former deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, to the cause of peace and reconciliation in recent years. I wish him well in his time of illness and hope he experiences a full recovery.

I report from my discussions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that both Governments are agreed that there must be a singular focus on supporting the devolved institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. Indeed, Deputies have mentioned this in the course of this debate. I say in the clearest terms that alternatives to devolved government such as direct rule are not being contemplated. This provides very important reassurance to all communities in Northern Ireland that they can rely on the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and, rightly, expect their elected representatives to work together towards these institutions to address the issues faced by citizens.

A number of Deputies have rightly raised a concern about the impact of the current situation on preparing for and dealing with Brexit. The interests of the island as a whole and protecting the gains of the peace process have been and will remain as two of the four major priorities for the Government in the upcoming Brexit negotiations. As the Taoiseach has already outlined, the all-island civic dialogue is a valuable part of our Brexit preparations. The ongoing sectorals and the plenary which he and I will co-host on 17 February are crucial opportunities for people across the island to contribute their perspectives, experience and ideas as to how we might best deal with the challenges of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. I am pleased to announce that on 13 February I will convene a sectoral consultation on the human rights aspects of the Good Friday Agreement which are so central to the peace process and which must be protected and sustained regardless of the UK's status in the European Union.

This civic dialogue does not, of course, replace the need for devolved institutions which allow Northern Ireland's particular interests and concerns to be represented by those with a direct local mandate. The Northern Ireland Executive has a crucial role to play, not least in the engagement with both Governments. While we have heard some further detail from Prime Minister May today, Brexit, however it proceeds, presents some of the most fundamental and challenging questions our island has seen in a generation or more. Citizens in Northern Ireland would be understandably aggrieved if their elected representatives could not deal with the critical responsibility of representing and pursuing Northern Ireland's unique circumstances and interests in this seismic negotiation. The formation of the Executive after the election and the related re-starting of the work of the North-South Ministerial Council is therefore not only a political imperative for both Governments, it is also an onerous obligation on the parties in Northern Ireland.

Another responsibility that weighs heavily on all of us is dealing with the legacy of the past. Like many others, I am concerned and frustrated that we have still not reached an outcome on the Stormont House legacy institutions more than two years on. I acknowledge that while there has been positive work and discussions ongoing over the last number of months, the victims and survivors deserve that the two Governments and the Northern Ireland political parties finish this job on a collective basis. Whatever happens in the weeks ahead, I assure all with a stake and an interest in this that the Irish Government will remain steadfast in its determination and effort to ensure that the legacy institutions are set up and established at the earliest opportunity.

The issue of the unimplemented elements of the Good Friday Agreement and successor agreements has rightly been raised by a number of speakers. As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I was to the fore in the negotiations in 2014 which led to the Stormont House Agreement. During those negotiations, the Government advocated for progress on outstanding commitments from previous agreements. Several of these are referenced in the Stormont House Agreement, including provisions on the Irish language, the obligation to promote a culture of tolerance, mutual respect and mutual understanding at every level of society, and new priorities for North-South co-operation in this regard. Unfortunately, as the Taoiseach has already said, these new commitments have not been adequately demonstrated which is something that must be addressed if the devolved institutions are to flourish and thrive. In the two years since Stormont House, I have engaged with the Executive parties and the British Government as appropriate to support progress on the outstanding commitments from previous agreements. Indeed, at the last two meetings of the review, most recently before Christmas, I specifically raised these issues so that the outstanding commitments which go to the heart of the Good Friday Agreement remain firmly on the political agenda. At the review meeting of 14 December last, there was a very positive discussion involving the former First Minister, the former deputy First Minister, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and me.

The constructive quality of the discussion provided no hint of the speed with which matters subsequently unravelled within the Executive. Now, as voters in Northern Ireland are being asked to go to the polls for the second time in eight months, the parties need to be mindful of their heavy responsibility to re-establish the devolved institutions on the far side of polling day. A scorched earth approach to campaigning that agitates and divides for partisan political purposes will only hamper the essential task of all parties re-engaging in a spirit of partnership and mutual respect in the democratic institutions as contained, evidenced and witnessed in the content of the Good Friday Agreement. In this regard, as co-guarantor of that Agreement, the Irish Government will continue to work with the British Government and political parties in Northern Ireland to fulfil the promise of the Agreement and advance political stability, reconciliation and economic prosperity in Northern Ireland.

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