Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh.

The Good Friday Agreement is the defining document and agreement which sets out the relationship between the people of this island and the people of these two islands. That includes the people in the North who, the Taoiseach said an Irish Government would never leave behind again. Let us be very clear about these positions. Even in the past 20 years, I could outline ten agreements the British have made which they have not honoured and in which they have poked holes in the intervening period.

In addition to its position of withdrawal from the European Court of Justice, the British Government will also withdraw from the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. It will repeal the Human Rights Act by which the European Convention on Human Rights is incorporated into British law. These decisions threaten the role of the European institutions and the human rights elements and safeguards, which are fundamental to the Good Friday Agreement.

I do not raise these issues to score points. This is too important for party-political boxing or a Punch and Judy show. These are fundamental issues. I hope the Taoiseach will have noted the letter from civic nationalism, if I can use that term, in the North, which is all about the rights and the denial of rights at this time. The Government needs to be conscious that this refusal to embrace rights is at the core of the current difficulties in the political institutions and the collapse of the Northern Executive. We will continue to make the case for special status in the North; we do not care what it is called. We still believe there is an opportunity to achieve this in the coming years if the political will exists and if the Government is committed to standing by our national interest - that is, our all-island interest as a nation.

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