John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is unfortunate, but unavoidable, that as we debate the issues of the Irish protocol and the proposed flawed legacy legislation being floated by the British, that the common thread that binds the two issues in respect of the approach and actions of the British Government is an attitude of disdain, most certainly for the people of this entire island. There is also an attitude of disdain for the EU and, indeed, the US Government, which very much identifies itself as a stakeholder and protector of the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. The actions of the British Government are precipitating the most serious political crisis in the post-Good Friday Agreement era. The British Government is threatening to break international law through signalling its intent to abandon the Irish protocol and effectively ride roughshod through the Good Friday Agreement.

The people of the North voted on 5 May to make politics work. Some 70% of voters voted in support of parties in favour of the protocol. Two thirds of the MLAs elected to Stormont want the assembly up and running now. Boris Johnson’s actions are giving succour to the anti-democratic instincts of the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, which is refusing to honour the democratic wishes of the people of the North to form the Stormont Executive.

We now have a situation where the entire basis of power sharing is being threatened by the actions of the DUP and the British Government, in particular, the toxic alliance which has emerged between the British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, the economic research group and the DUP. Their actions are depriving the people of the North of an Executive, which is needed to address a crippling cost-of-living crisis where inflation is at its highest point in the past four decades. Yet, because of the DUP actions facilitated by the British Government, the assembly cannot meet to deliver badly needed support for workers and, indeed, families. There is £400 million in funding available to address the cost-of-living crisis, but it cannot be allocated until the Executive is formed. Further funding of £1 billion is there to help to address the crisis in the health service in the North, to hire more doctors and nurses and to fund cancer and mental health services.

The British Government has falsely claimed to be acting to defend the Good Friday Agreement, when in fact it is acting to support a party that is actively attempting to undermine the agreement. The actions of the British Government and its unilateral approach to proposed changes to the protocol act to undermine the conditions that have fostered peace on this island for almost 25 years. The British Government is legislating intentionally to break international law. It is amplifying the record of bad faith displayed by the Johnson Government on Brexit since his election as Prime Minister.

The economic reality is that the economy in the North has been outperforming the economy of Britain since the protocol agreement has been put in place. The protocol has placed the North in a unique and, in some respects, an envious position, in that it has access to both the British market and an EU market of 500 million people.

I also want to acknowledge the support that the US has offered to Ireland for the protocol and in defence of the Good Friday Agreement. Last week I visited the US and met with US lawmakers from both parties, Democratic and Republican, who assured me and the cross-party delegation there of their continued and unfailing support of the Irish peace process. The reality is that there would not be a Good Friday Agreement without the valued support of the US. I also want to welcome the comments by Congressman Richard Neal, the chair of the House of Representatives' ways and means committee, who said that the Good Friday Agreement also belongs to the United States. He said the US is firm in its commitment to continue to provide bipartisan support for the Irish protocol and the Good Friday Agreement. In addition, US lawmakers have also stated that they will not support a new trade agreement between the United States and Britain if the Tories go ahead and scrap the protocol, effectively tearing up international law.

It is interesting to note that the British Attorney General stated that she will not publish the British Government’s advice in full, which the Financial Timeshas reported to have come from a former lawyer for Donald Trump, which in itself says a lot. Further to this, the British are offering a grotesque rationale that they intend to act unilaterally to prevent violence from loyalists, including that which was threatened against the Minister, essentially rewarding or even encouraging illegal behaviour from loyalists.

Much of this crisis takes place against the backdrop of English politics, the seemingly eternal internal power struggles within the Tory party, and attempts by the DUP to assert itself as the dominant force within unionism. The British Government and the DUP must not and cannot be allowed to continue to drag us all into this crisis.

The EU and the US must continue in their support for the Good Friday Agreement, which must remain the primary concern. They must continue in their view that the British must not be allowed to tear up international treaties and discount international law at will. There cannot and should not be any consideration given to a renegotiation of the protocol or the Good Friday Agreement. The British Government must listen to the voice of voters in the North, 70% of whom voted in favour of candidates in support of the protocol. It must listen to the voice of civic society in the North. The Irish Government must step up its efforts to advocate on behalf of the people of the North. It must be seen to be unequivocal in its support of the Good Friday Agreement and, indeed, the protocol.

I want to turn to the issue of the British Government’s plans to introduce flawed legacy legislation in the North. Boris Johnson is certainly lending truth to the axiom once offered by Brigadier Frank Kitson, that the law is only another tool in the arsenal of the state. Once used in the North for the disposal of unwanted members of the public, it is now intended to be used to dispose of unwanted and unpalatable truths. The Achilles’ heel of the record of Britain’s dirty war in Ireland, its counterinsurgency campaign against Irish nationalists, has been and will remain the hidden truth of its role in the murder of Irish civilians. The British Government will do anything to prevent this truth from emerging. It is simply an appalling vista too far for the British establishment. In this vein, once again we witness the British attempting to manipulate the law for its own ends with the indecent haste with which is attempting to drive through the flawed Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, against the wishes of victims and their families.

When I use the term “flawed”, I am merely echoing the findings of a damning report by the Human Rights Commission, which has branded the British Government’s legacy legislation plans as "totally flawed". The commission has also found that the British legacy Bill is incompatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and will breach the Human Rights Act. I want to welcome the opposition of the Irish Government to these plans, along with that of other political parties on this island.

This flawed legacy legislation is a flagrant attempt by the British Government to protect the agents of the British State who prosecuted the war in the North on its behalf. It is an attempt to introduce an amnesty through the backdoor for members of the British army, the RUC and the intelligence services who murdered and colluded in the murders of Irish citizens during Britain’s dirty war here on this island. There is also an attempt to shut citizens out of the courts, to deny families inquests on the deaths of their loved ones and to deny access to judicial reviews and to civil courts. They ride roughshod over the needs of victims and their families.

Some of those have been waiting for more than five decades for justice. In 2014, agreement was reached by the parties in the North and both the British and Irish Governments at Stormont House to address the issues of truth, justice and reconciliation, and this agreement must be implemented in full.

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