Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister and the Government for the work they are doing and the energy the Minister is putting into protecting the Good Friday Agreement. He and the Government, and all of us in the House, must make every effort to ensure Ireland remains at peace and the agreement signed almost 25 years ago is put into full fruition and comes to its full strength. In this respect, tomorrow the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement will meet Mr. Tim O'Connor, one of the civil servants who was the architect of the work, to learn from him. The committee is composed of members of all parties and none and is ready, willing and able to ensure that the lessons for the future of the island are properly and fully examined and that we will learn from the politicians and everybody who was involved in the Good Friday Agreement.

I welcome the initiative led by Mr. Richard Neal, a member of the US Congress. The visit by Mr. Neal and his colleagues has been extremely helpful to me and my colleagues in the Oireachtas. I hope his visit to Northern Ireland today will go well. He has been to Europe and he has also met the British Foreign Minister. The Good Friday Agreement is not just about what we in the South and the North think; it is about what was agreed. It is guaranteed by the British and Irish Governments. The interest of the United States is critical as is the continuing support and efforts from Europe to find a solution to the issue of the protocol. I do not think anybody cares whether it is a green or red lane when people bring goods into the North. The key issue is that in whatever practical solution is found, goods intended for the North stay in the North and no goods will illegally enter the European Union by breaking the rigid application we must have.

There has been a lot of talk about a border poll. The trouble with a border poll is that it is all very well to call for one but unless we prepare the ground for it and have a practical plan and buy-in from the minority in the North even a successful border poll will not work. It will not cut the mustard. If there is to be a border poll, and I favour one, how it can be brought about must be clarified. The Good Friday Agreement is weak in this respect in that it leaves it to the British Administration, or its man or woman in Belfast for want of a better phrase, to look into his or her heart and decide that time has arrived. We need to look at this issue and identify and clarify the reasons and process by which such a poll would be called. It is part of the Good Friday Agreement. It is as much a part of it as it is to be British and remain British. Being Irish or nationalist is also a core part of it. We need clarity on this but we need to prepare for it. It will not work if it is lost. If there is a border poll and it is lost, it will be lost for more than the seven years it is stated there would have to be before another one. An awful lot of work must be done.

I agree with the comments on the DUP. It is failing in a duty of care to engage with us on the Good Friday Agreement. Of the 18 Members of Parliament elected from Northern Ireland, ten of them attend our committee. The majority of Members of the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom attend our meetings and speak at them. This is very important. It is time the DUP and the unionists join us in this regard. I am ready willing and able, as are all members of the committee, to meet them wherever it suits to negotiate and speak about the future. Unless we bring the unionists on board, the border poll will not work. The new Northern Ireland we all want will not happen.

If there is one place I have been in the North that has shown me how power-sharing works, it is in the city of Derry. I met members of my own party and I also met Mr. Graham Warke, the DUP mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council. There is power-sharing in Derry. It has a nationalist majority and a DUP mayor. The openness with which Mr. Warke welcomed us to his city and gave us the benefit of his views is a new generation of thinking. It is something I find very attractive. The DUP is coming forward with new faces and new ideas. They are all part of the same city of Derry. With the DUP and nationalists, we can all be part of a new Northern Ireland.

It would be remiss of me not to welcome the repeal of the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 passed many centuries ago. I am sure it brings joy to all of those who marched in Belfast. It also brings joy to me. It is not a revolutionary act by any stretch of the imagination but it is very welcome and necessary. Progress has been made but the biggest problem of all is the poor relationship that continues between the British Government and us on this island. It is very unhelpful. The British Government needs to listen and learn. It has been involved in Northern Ireland for a hell of a long time. It is part and parcel of the Good Friday Agreement. For short-term political gain, as my colleague from the Labour Party has said, it is neglecting its long-term duty of care to peace on this island and using short-term strategies to create significant serious and ongoing problems, which we do not accept.

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