Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputies Micheál Martin and Declan Breathnach have outlined very clearly Fianna Fáil's strong view that we want the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive restored as soon as possible. We sincerely hope that the parties and the Governments will reach agreement. There is a particular onus on the two major parties represented in Stormont to ensure that the difficulties that have prevented a working Assembly and Executive for more than a year are resolved. I heard Deputy Adams mention a letter from civic society from different people in different walks of life in Northern Ireland, which was addressed to An Taoiseach and which requested Government invention, assistance and vigilance on a number of issues. I have been asking the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and his predecessors about the level of engagement the Government has had with civic society in Northern Ireland over the past 12 months, particularly when the people of Northern Ireland do not have the political voice they should have in their own Assembly and their own Executive. Only today, An Tánaiste replied to me that:

The power-sharing Executive is responsible for representing the interests of all of the people of Northern Ireland, including in relation to how the issues arising with the UK exit from the EU be addressed. It is imperative that the devolved institutions can urgently operate again. The North-South Ministerial Council must also resume its work to oversee and develop North-South co-operation, including that commenced last year to co-ordinate engagement with the Government and the Executive on dealing with the challenges raised on an all-island basis by the UK exit.

Unfortunately there was a civic assembly in Northern Ireland, and Sinn Féin and the DUP had it within their gift to have it restored. There is no point in blaming the Irish Government or the British Government. It was purely within the remit of Sinn Féin and the DUP to re-establish that civic forum, but the parties have failed to do it over many years. People are now talking, when there is no political Assembly, about how the voice of civic society must be listened to. It must be listened to when there is no political voice. Some of us went out and campaigned for the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Not every party campaigned for it, but our Taoiseach at the time, the British Prime Minister and representatives and leaders of many parties made major contributions in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement. Thankfully it was endorsed by over 94% of the people in our State in that referendum in May 1998 and by over 74% in Northern Ireland. That is the political mandate that we all have on this island, and it is not being implemented.

There is a huge onus of responsibility and blame resting on the shoulders of the DUP and Sinn Féin for not having an Executive and Assembly in place. I have engaged, along with many colleagues in the Oireachtas, in many meetings about Brexit, including in committees in this House and debates in this House and elsewhere. The best debate I have participated in and the best discussion on the matter was at the North-South Parliamentary Assembly in the first days of December 2016 at Stormont. The North-South Parliamentary Assembly consists of members of the Dáil and Seanad and members of Stormont. That day in Stormont, under the chairmanship of An Ceann Comhairle and the Speaker of the Stormont Assembly, saw very robust but honest discussion on Brexit and the issues confronting this island. Sadly, without that forum since, we have not had that robust discussion that is necessary on an all-island basis. That day, regardless of what political tradition people came from, there was honest-to-God debate. Good, progressive viewpoints were expressed. Different viewpoints were expressed, but listened to, and people understood the concerns raised by each side. Sadly we have not had a meeting of that assembly since the Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland dissolved themselves.

The Minister has heard me speak at committee and in this Chamber to outline the concerns of the Border communities. I am privileged to represent two of the southern Ulster counties. I have great interaction with my neighbours in Fermanagh, Tyrone and Armagh. From speaking to those people I know they are very fearful of the outcome of Brexit. I compliment the Minister and his Government colleagues on what was achieved last week, and I sincerely hope that the message that the Minister has delivered will be realised and that there will be no Border on our island. That is what we want to see. My constituents, my friends and neighbours travel north and people travel south on a daily basis. Thankfully the Good Friday Agreement, to all intents and purposes, did away with the Border on our island as we went about our daily business. There is huge interdependence in the agrifood sector, the engineering sector and the construction products sector in my own region. Raw materials travel north and south, and the finished products go in both directions. Thankfully today we have all-Ireland companies which developed on an all-Ireland basis, facilitated by the workings of the Good Friday Agreement and the new dispensation on this island. It is an absolute shame that we do not have the institutions that were established by the Good Friday Agreement up and running and representing the people. They were overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of all of this island on the same day in May 1998, via referendums in the North and South. Deputy Adams was quoted by Deputy Micheál Martin earlier as saying that the challenge of Brexit is huge for this island. There is a substantial part of our country where great, painstaking work was done to bring about new political structures. They are not working, and it is a shame that is the position.

As a proud Ulster man I want to see people in all of Ulster represented by their politicians at local level, in the Assembly and on an all-Ireland basis as well. We could be working progressively towards achieving a United Ireland, but we want to ensure that the structures we have in place at the present time are working on behalf of the people who gave the politicians their mandate.

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