Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin can cling on to a century old piece of political theology at the expense of dealing with the very real problems in 2017. In the article I mentioned, there were a lot of references to not abdicating political leadership. It was talking about the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, but it could be relevant much closer to home. Leadership does not fall to the two Governments alone. It also falls to the people who have the biggest mandates in Northern Ireland, the DUP and Sinn Féin. Having run the province for nearly a decade, Sinn Féin has become more preoccupied with getting into government in Dublin rather than Belfast. In recent years, we have observed a concerted undermining of the political institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement and anà la carteapproach by the largest parties to human rights issues and to cherishing the rich and diverse cultural traditions in Ireland.

Rather than fostering bonds across the community divide, silos are being built and community tensions are being exploited rather than soothed. A corrosive form of governance based on the principle of "separate but equal" has begun to prevail in complete contravention of the spirit if not the letter of the Good Friday Agreement. After ten years of DUP-Sinn Féin Government, the cumulative, corrosive effect of bad government has finally resulted in a return to direct rule in all but name. With a hung parliament at Westminster, the DUP sought to exploit a weakened Tory party to extract concessions and wield its influence. Rather than return to Government in Belfast, Sinn Féin is taking a leaf out of the DUP's book and seeking to prioritise getting into Government in Dublin over participating in Government in Belfast. As John Hume pointed out, there are three key relationships between the east and west, North and South and most importantly between the two communities in the North.

I would really like to see Sinn Féin, in addition to its interest in the Republic, pursue those broader political interests and the spirit of the Belfast Agreement. As we face into the Brexit negotiations, the Labour Party and I have argued for an all-island approach and an all-island resolution. The commitment by Mr. Barnier that Ireland should have a clear pathway in the Brexit process is very important but it will require the most incredibly detailed work. Information that may be available to Sinn Féin, particularly those in Sinn Féin in the North, on vital issues such as agriculture will be really important to the debate that will take place in Westminster. We have enormous economic interests North and South. The problem with Brexit is, like the collapse of 2008, if it resulted in an incredible crash with 330,000 jobs being lost, it will not happen overnight. It will happen slowly. Towns like Dundalk will be strangled again as trade slips away from them. We all have to think collectively to find a progressive solution for all the people on the island. We cannot be shown to be divided on a North-South basis in a narrow sectarian way if we want the other 26 EU countries to maintain what has been tremendous support for the Irish case up to now. One of Deputy Enda Kenny's very significant achievements was to have the situation of Ireland included in the three issues that have to be dealt with first. We have to show collectively a capacity to move together notwithstanding the kind of sniping we have just been listening to. If one goes as far as Austria or the far side of eastern Europe-----

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