Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very pleased to open these statements on Northern Ireland on behalf of the Government and I look forward to the debate. I know the intention is to have regular quarterly statements on Northern Ireland in the House, a development I very much welcome and support.

The peace process is at a critical phase on a number of fronts. It is important that we regularly consider the issues in this House, and the discussions here will continue to inform the Government’s engagement on Northern Ireland. There has already been a lot of discussion regarding Brexit in the past two weeks. However, the Article 50 negotiations impact very directly on Northern Ireland so I would like to begin with some views on that before turning to the devolved institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and some of the other critical issues relating to the peace process.

The Government has worked intensively and with absolute determination over the past 18 months to build understanding with our EU partners of the unique challenges Brexit presents for the island of Ireland and for the peace process. We are now working through the Article 50 negotiations to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement, in all its parts, and the gains and benefits of the peace process are protected. The Government is very pleased with the unity and solidarity that all of our EU partners have shown with Ireland in the Article 50 negotiations. I again express the Government’s appreciation for the commitment and professionalism of Michel Barnier and his team in working with Ireland to secure an EU objective of protecting our peace process. This is a shared objective with the United Kingdom, which is important.

The joint report achieves the goals we set out to achieve in phase 1. These include the maintenance of the common travel area, the protection of the Good Friday Agreement, in all its parts - including North-South co-operation - and a guarantee from the UK on avoiding a hard border on the island. Crucially, this guarantee is now accompanied, for the first time, by a spelling-out on the part of the UK of how a hard border can be avoided.

The Government believes, as does the European Commission, that these commitments together with those made on the citizens’ rights and financial settlement issues, now constitute sufficient progress in phase 1 of the negotiations.

I hope and expect that on Friday, the European Council will agree with that assessment and will allow negotiations to move on to the second phase on the future EU-UK relationship and transitional arrangements. The Irish-specific issues will continue to be worked on in a distinct stream of work in phase 2, in the same way we have seen in phase 1, which will help to ensure that all the commitments set out in the joint report are implemented satisfactorily.

The Government’s approach to dealing with the challenges of Brexit for the peace process has been and will remain guided solely by our responsibility as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. We are duty bound and determined to protect the peace that was hard won and the gains of peace and reconciliation that have been built up over the past two decades.

As the Taoiseach and I have made clear in recent days, the Irish Government has no hidden agenda and we recognise fully the concerns expressed by the unionist community of Northern Ireland. The Taoiseach confirmed on Friday that there is no question of us exploiting Brexit for any constitutional reasons. On the contrary, the principle of consent is at the heart of our thinking and approach. We also do not want to see a border in the Irish Sea any more than we want to see a border on the island of Ireland. The Government wants to build bridges not borders, as the Taoiseach has repeatedly said. We want reconciliation and respect to grow. Our commitment to that and to upholding and protecting the Good Friday Agreement can be relied on by everyone on this island, nationalist, unionist or neither.

The Government is listening carefully to views and concerns across civil society North and South, including through the all-island civic dialogue on Brexit. As part of my engagement in Northern Ireland, I will also continue to meet nationalist and unionist communities and all civil society interests, to hear their perspectives on Brexit. It is a question on which there are real differences of view in Northern Ireland but we cannot allow Brexit to undo any of the progress that has been made in healing the wounds of the Troubles or to hold back the journey to full reconciliation that still has some way to go. The peace process must be bigger than Brexit and all sides need to work together to make that so. The Government will always work to that end and to protect our shared interests, North and South and indeed east and west.

The Government is clear that the devolved institutions of the Good Friday Agreement urgently need to operate again. Only the power-sharing Executive and Assembly can adequately represent the interests of Northern Ireland, not only on Brexit but on many other areas also. Only the Executive and the Assembly can effectively address the continuing divisions between communities in Northern Ireland and it is only the Executive and the Assembly that can ensure the delivery of effective and accountable public services for people in Northern Ireland.

The Government, as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, working with the British Government, has spared no effort in facilitating talks to support the formation of a new Executive since the Assembly election last March. However, devolved power-sharing government can only operate on the basis of an agreement reached between the two largest parties. The other parties represented in the Assembly also have a critical role to play and have, indeed, shown great patience to date.

While it is frustrating that there has not, as yet, been an agreement to form a new Executive, it is important to note that significant progress has been made through the several phases of talks this year. The issues under discussion go to the heart of divisions in society in Northern Ireland and agreement on them was always going to be challenging. However, it remains my firm belief that the parties can reach an agreed outcome, which sees the implementation of previous agreements and reflects the core principles of the Good Friday Agreement and power-sharing itself, namely, partnership, equality and mutual respect. There is a moment now when, with a degree of trust, good faith and political leadership by the parties, the opportunity of, and the right to, devolved government in Northern Ireland can be secured again. The North-South Ministerial Council must also resume its work to oversee and develop North-South co-operation, including to deal with the challenges raised on an all-island basis by Brexit.

The Government has heard clearly the concerns expressed by both communities at the continuing absence of evident progress on key issues that needs to be urgently addressed. The Taoiseach and I have noted very carefully the concerns expressed by members of the nationalist community in their letter this week. The Government has consistently affirmed its unwavering commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and its determination to secure the effective operation of all of its institutions. The Taoiseach and I will continue to engage with the British Government and the parties in Northern Ireland to give full effect to that commitment.

I remain in regular contact with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and spoke with him at length again this afternoon. We agreed that all concerned must resume and redouble their efforts to get an agreement on a new Executive. There is a must-take opportunity for the parties to get devolved government back on track and delivering for people in Northern Ireland. That will need to happen very early in the new year.

I also reaffirm to Members the Government’s commitment to fully implement the Stormont House Agreement framework to address the legacy issues of the Troubles. This is one of the fundamental next steps for the peace process. It is particularly important for victims and survivors, for wider society in Northern Ireland and for pursuing a deeper reconciliation. At present, the system in Northern Ireland is simply not equipped to deal with the legacy of the past. The needs and the rights of victims and survivors are not being met. In recent months, I have met some of those directly affected by this, including the Kingsmill families and the Ballymurphy families, who still have to struggle and campaign after more than four decades to secure truth and justice for their lost loved ones. I know that there are many such families in Northern Ireland, as well as in the South, who are still waiting for answers and are left in the same unacceptable position.

I am always conscious of the families of those killed in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and other atrocities in this jurisdiction. The Government will continue to pursue the request to the British Government on their behalf, consistent with the unanimous motions adopted by this House.

The Stormont House Agreement provides for a comprehensive framework of institutions and services to deal with the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. This framework, including adequately resourced, Article 2-compliant legacy inquests, must now be implemented fully and faithfully.

There was important progress in the talks at Stormont Castle earlier this year. The next step will be a public consultation by the British Government on the draft UK legislation and I hope that can proceed very soon. There should then be a move forward to legislative phases in both jurisdictions, as needed to get the Stormont House Agreement legacy framework established and working in full.

The Government is advancing the preparation of the necessary legislation in this jurisdiction. Last month, the Government approved a general scheme for an international crime co-operation Bill 2017, which importantly will, among other things, facilitate the taking of evidence from members of An Garda Síochána by legacy inquests in Northern Ireland. This is a very important development for the Kingsmill families in particular and the Minister for Justice and Equality is advancing further drafting as a priority. This draft legislation demonstrates the Government’s commitment to supporting establishment of the Stormont House Agreement legacy framework. The Government also intends to bring forward legislative proposals to establish in law an independent commission for information retrieval, which is provided for under that agreement and in the 2015 international treaty between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The Government will continue to engage with the British Government and all the political parties to seek an urgent move forward with legacy issues, by establishing the Stormont House Agreement framework, in order that the legitimate needs of all victims and survivors can be met and in order that we can pursue and deepen the necessary reconciliation process.

In concluding, I wish to state that while there are of course challenges at present for Northern Ireland and the peace process, I believe that with leadership and resolve these can be dealt with and overcome in the time ahead.

The Government’s responsibility is to do everything it can to get the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement operating effectively, to make sure that we protect the interests of the island of Ireland through the Article 50 negotiations and to see that the next steps for the peace process are achieved, with the continuing confidence of both communities in Northern Ireland.

The Government will never be found wanting in working to do that and I believe that we can achieve successes in the coming months for the benefit of all of the people of Northern Ireland and across this island. I thank other parties in the context of the Brexit negotiations and what was achieved last week. Not only was the solidarity of other countries and Ministers as well as the two institutions in the European Union essential to getting that wording agreed but the solidarity among parties in this House was extremely helpful in doing that. I hope we can have their continued support as we move into phase 2 of this process.

Likewise, I look forward to working with parties in this House in efforts to get the devolved institutions up and running again as soon as we possibly can because the absence of those devolved institutions effectively means the Good Friday Agreement cannot function as it was designed to function and we will be forced to consider triggering other structures on an east-west basis with the British Government which will not provide the kind of governance, decision-making or bridge-building that is needed in Northern Ireland in the future. Parties know exactly what I am talking about. I look forward to hearing what they have to say.

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