Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today's vote in respect of women's rights and the decision of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution to vote for the repeal of the eighth amendment to put to the people shows what the methodical working of political institutions can do to deliver change and the potential of progress. I hope we will see not before too long a referendum being put to the people to repeal the eighth amendment on the lines suggested and proposed by the committee. I congratulate all the parliamentarians who took part in the committee - both those in favour of repeal and those opposed to repeal. In particular, I thank my colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, for her leadership in respect of the work of the committee. In the context of the rather sad and defeatist debate we are having here, it is an example of what politics can deliver in respect of an issue of which people were really afraid. Going back to when the referendum was originally held, people had a fear that the move for it and the level of subservience in Ireland would be so strong that it would be impossible to defeat it in the first place, which proved to be true, or prevent it and second, to repeal it and consequently, today is a very good day for Irish democracy. Ultimately, it obviously will be for the people to decide.

It is in that context that I must say that to any reasonable person, the Northern Ireland Assembly is dead. What a waste. What a pity. In what may well be Northern Ireland's greatest hour of need, the institutions are defunct. Many people in this Chamber, including Deputy Adams, devoted a considerable part of their lives to arguing in favour of the creation of a framework structure and an agreement and institutions which, while not perfect - we all recognised they were far from perfect in terms of the different wishes of the different groups - had the capacity to change the narrative in Northern Ireland, to look forward, to create economic prosperity and progress and basically to create a new day on the island of Ireland. It is that spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and of those who negotiated it, including John Hume, the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the former Labour Party leader, Dick Spring, which should inspire us to say that dark as it is at present, it ought to be possible to move to address the bigger threat that faces everybody on the island of Ireland, namely, Brexit and that we ought to look for things that can unite us rather than issues that can divide us.

I was struck by something that my friend Claire Hanna, MLA said recently. She pointed to how the Scottish Government continues to demonstrate the power and potential of devolution as it sets about addressing key issues in Scotland, many of which are name checked all the time in the context of Northern Ireland by both parties. These issues range from education to health and to public investment in infrastructure, that is, all the issues we talk about and in which we invest so much time in this Parliament. Claire Hanna contrasted what is happening in the devolved assembly in Scotland with what is not happening in Northern Ireland, which has been left without a government and without a locally determined budget for a year. She said:

It’s been clear for about a decade now that the Scottish Government is a powerhouse that understands the difference between being in government and being in power. As they plan to deliver a new budget ... with a focus on public services and the economy, it’s a stark reminder that power and government have been drained from Northern Ireland.

The stalemate in Northern Ireland is leaving a tide of inequality rising again in both communities, while both parties concentrate on a blame game.

Last week, the Sinn Féin MP for Foyle stated quite strongly in an article in the English Independent, "as a Sinn Féin MP, I won't have Ireland become collateral damage in the Tory-DUP Brexit shambles." That is a comment with which I would agree but to be honest, I do not think we heard that addressed in the last contribution because it is obviously a difficult issue to address. Let us be honest about it. It is a difficult issue to address because it means focusing on the future, inevitably, in the interests of everybody rather than just in a very narrow sectarian way. Defending the economic security and future of Ireland is everyone's responsibility - everybody here and everybody with political responsibilities in Northern Ireland regardless of which side they come from. It is not just the Taoiseach's responsibility. It is everybody's responsibility and that includes Sinn Féin - a party at pains to tell us all about its mandate and its negotiating skills, for which there is a great deal of evidence. I have to ask the people from Sinn Féin - I cannot ask the DUP because it is not here for historical reasons we all understand - what is going to happen in Westminster-----

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