Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

There is a significant crisis within Unionism at the moment. Unionism is now a minority political view in the North of Ireland. This has been the case for the past number of elections but Unionist leaders have still not realised it. If those of a minority political view want to shape the future, they have a responsibility to work with others. Unfortunately, Unionism has not seemed to realise this. Unionists are still relying on a veto which is a remnant of the past. It is the cause of major difficulties on the island of Ireland. It is the cause of the collapse of the Executive in the North and of the political impasse we are experiencing at the moment.

If Unionists want the Union between the North of Ireland and Britain to continue, they have to show Nationalists and republicans that the North works for them. The collapsing of the Executive and the North South Ministerial Council, and the British Government murder amnesty have all shown without a shadow of a doubt that the Northern State does not work for Irish Nationalists. Indeed, an increasing section of Unionism have realised that the state is not working for them either. Unionist leadership is currently pushing Nationalism and some Unionists towards Irish unity.

The level of political self-harm within Unionism is absolutely astounding. The DUP has shown some of the worst political leadership in the whole of Europe over the last years. Remember how we got here. They campaigned for Brexit. They ignored the result in the North of Ireland. They refused Theresa May's deal and backed Boris Johnson in his pursuit of the protocol in the first place. Another example of political self-harm within Unionism is this instinct always to look in the rear-view mirror when they are in a leadership position. They have been completely distracted over the past months by Jim Allister and Jamie Bryson. They have allowed a small section of Unionism to grasp the initiative and set the agenda of the whole Unionist political view.

The major fear Unionism has is that it does not want to get Trimbled. By that I mean that David Trimble went through the same experience; he looked in the rear-view mirror, saw Ian Paisley and saw the negativity that leadership was bringing to their politics at the time and as a result reversed into that isolation as well. One of the major problems we have to get over is the Unionist ability to veto political progress. It has to be finished with. If it is left in place, we are guaranteed to see the fall of the Executive over and over again.

We also have to get rid of British unilateralism. It is causing so much difficulty at the moment. The only way to get rid of it is to get tough with the British Government. I will speak more on this issue later as well. I want to refer to a kerfuffle that is happening in the North of Ireland at the moment regarding language that Congressman Richard Neal used. He used the term "planter" and many Unionists have stated that they are offended by this use of language. Aontú is a republican party. Our republicanism is based on that of Wolfe Tone, of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter being able to be who they are to their full extent without fear or favour of the State. We believe all language should be respectful in all cases. However, it seems to us that there is a competition to see who can be most offended at the moment, especially within Unionism.

As a democrat, I think people have a right to be offended that there is no Executive. I believe people who voted for the Good Friday Agreement have a right to be offended by the fact that there is no North South Ministerial Council at the moment. I would even say that people have a right to be offended by the fact that there are 670,000 in the North of Ireland living in poverty right now, that there are 44,000 people on a housing waiting list and 270,000 people on a hospital waiting list for more than a year. I would be offended that we have a political class still claiming a salary while not participating in an Executive to fix those issues. It is an incredible situation. The refusal by the Unionist leadership before the election to accept a Nationalist First Minister was offensive to many people.

Hundreds of thousands of people will be absolutely offended today by the British decision to introduce the murder amnesty into the North of Ireland. Hundreds of families have had loved ones murdered by British soldiers or proxies in this country, North and South. The Southern Government has done precious little in terms of vindicating their right to justice or truth.

We in Aontú have created a new Bill that would constitute a commission of investigation to investigate British collusion. It would take evidence in this State and allow evidence to be taken from other states and state reports written on collusion to fill in the gaps. People who have suffered because of British collusion are all reaching a certain age and many of them are approaching the end of their lives, so achieving truth and justice for them is urgent. I would welcome it if MLAs in the North of Ireland constituted a similar Bill. If Bills were enacted on both sides of the Border, it would be possible to compel witnesses north and south.

There is an ongoing row between Mr. Jon Boutcher, An Garda and the Minister for Justice over the handover of State files in respect of ongoing investigations into the Glenanne gang and the murder of Mr. Seamus Ludlow. I met the Taoiseach and members of the families of people murdered by the Glenanne gang as far back as Christmas. They were discussing a resolution in respect of some of these files but the files are still not being handed over by An Garda to the people carrying out the investigation. That is a matter we can resolve in this jurisdiction.

The language used by Richard Neal was archaic. I would not have used the word he used, but I believe unionists have used it themselves, including Mr. Peter Robinson on one occasion. I have no doubt that Mr. Neal did not mean to offend in using the word. The US has been a massive friend to this country economically and in underwriting the Good Friday Agreement. The agreement would not have been delivered without the work of people such as Mr. George Mitchell at the time in question. It is worth saying that some American investors are getting cold feet over the fact that the Executive is still suspended in the North. Funds that were necessary to get the companies up and running are not now forthcoming, and some of them are rethinking whether to proceed with their investments.

I want to raise the attack on the human right to life by Mr. Brandon Lewis. The right to life is obviously the most important right that anybody has. It is a devolved issue in the North. Most people in the North have said over and over that it should be decided by the elected representatives there. However, Mr. Lewis is now rolling out some of the most extreme abortion legislation in Europe in the North of Ireland. Abortion is to be allowed for up to 24 weeks for a child without disabilities and right up until birth for a child with disabilities. It is therefore up to 40 weeks for a child with Down's syndrome or a cleft palate. It is incredibly heartbreaking. We should have compassion for and offer supports and protections to both the mother and child. This is a devolved issue, yet the British Government is forcing its measure through against the rules of the Good Friday Agreement. The measure has the support of Sinn Féin and some elements of the SDLP, unfortunately, but nobody in the Irish Government has raised a voice about it. This is startling, not to mention the substantive issue. That what the British Government is doing is against the Good Friday Agreement is a major problem that the Irish Government should be pushing back against.

The protocol is an outcome of Brexit. The checks are a practical protection of the integrity of the two markets. The protocol is the logistical outcome that has to be achieved to make sure Brexit functions. Aontú believes there should be a reduction in the number of checks and they should be made only where necessary. An important point that people forget is that if we were to reduce practically every single check tied to the protocol, a section of unionists would still oppose the protocol. This is because it is not an economic issue for them. They would chop their noses off to spite their faces. For them, it is about the fact that the North is in a different place economically than the rest of their United Kingdom. To the Irish Government, I say we need to be far stronger in defending the Good Friday Agreement and ensuring all the protections are put in place for it. However, we also need to speak to civic society unionists. Business and trade organisations, many of which represent unionist businesses in the North, admit that some of the checks are causing a trade difficulty, but many of them are happy that the North is now in an economic sweet spot in terms of its being able to trade with Britain and the European Union. We need to reach out and sometimes speak over the leadership of unionism to the citizens themselves.

Fáiltím go bhfuil Acht um teangacha ag dul tríd an bParlaimint thall i Londain ag an bomaite. Tá sé dochreidte agus uafásach nach raibh Stormont sásta é a chur i bhfeidhm sa Tuaisceart. Le cúnamh Dé, beidh sé ag dul ar aghaidh go tapa agus ní bheidh níos mó bac sa phróiseas sin.

I believe the Tories and DUP have totalled the Good Friday Agreement and the democratic rights of the people of the North of Ireland. The Irish Government is a co-guarantor of an international agreement. I do not believe it is co-guaranteeing anything at the moment. It is beyond time that it fulfilled its responsibilities. It should be exhausting every single international legal route to make sure this international agreement is fully upheld. It should be seeking the suspension of MLA salaries to ensure no MLAs who are not doing their job will be paid. The Government must harness the full power of the White House and the EU to put pressure on the British Government. We need to see a reconstitution of the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference and push for joint authority while Stormont is collapsed.

Very importantly – the Tánaiste mentioned this in his speech in the North, which I welcomed – we need to look for a legally defined role for the Assembly in achieving or activating an Irish unity poll. Currently, that role is in the hands of the Northern Secretary in Westminster. That is not good enough. We need a legally defined role for the Assembly, the representatives of the people of the North of Ireland, to trigger the Irish unity poll.

I welcome the fact that the language of the Minister for Foreign Affairs has become stronger in recent weeks. There is no doubt that the British Government certainly does not understand subtlety, but the major crisis in the North is happening over and over. The reason, I believe, is that both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil still see this as an issue to be managed when it is a crisis, and they still deal at arm's length with, and are still not being strong enough in defence of, the Good Friday Agreement.

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