Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As has been said well by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, and Opposition spokespeople, the Good Friday Agreement is a treasure unearthed after a huge amount of work and bravery in Belfast in 1998. It has been valued and protected ever since by those of us who remember the terrible death and maiming that was brought on by the Troubles for three decades. The Good Friday Agreement is a piece of genius. No government, no party, no generation, no community and no tradition owns it. It is owned by everybody, and it has allowed an entire generation to grow up in relative peace, unlike the lives lived by their parents before them.

As the Minister who was responsible for Brexit negotiations for five years, I was in no doubt that if we agreed anything that risked the Good Friday Agreement or saw a return of an economic border on the island of Ireland, we would have been allowing a fundamental undermining of a peace guarantee. The Irish people are fair to their core, but they will not accept an unravelling of the Good Friday Agreement now or in the future. They will not accept going backwards.

The recent anniversary celebrations were inclusive and respectful and those who organised and participated in them have a lot to be proud of and should be thanked. People of all traditions and none marked the moment with dignity. However, there was something missing, something that the Good Friday Agreement gave us and something that, for the most part, has worked and propelled Northern Ireland and relationships there forward. That something is a functioning Assembly and Government, accountable to Northern Ireland and making decisions for Northern Ireland, in Northern Ireland. As there is no government, some of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement lie idle. There is no North-South Ministerial Council, and so the work of neighbours acting together for the common good on a shared island is not at the level it should be. This stagnation continuing and becoming the norm is an exercise in going backwards.

Peace brought stability and that stability allowed businesses on both sides of the Border to grow and prosper. My Department's most active role in helping to foster this shared prosperity is through InterTradelreland, the North-South trade and business body established under the Good Friday Agreement. Since its establishment, it has supported more than 50,000 businesses on the island, generating €1.6 billion in business development value and protected and sustained more than 20,000 jobs.

In truth, the biggest damage of having no Executive is being felt internally in Northern Ireland itself. People believe in the path of democracy and have continually voted for it. No politician or party has the right to block that path just as it reaches the doors of Stormont with an election result. More than a mandate, the elected politicians in Northern Ireland have been given a clear instruction from people: "Do your job and form a government on behalf of everybody in Northern Ireland." I could leave it there and then perhaps the usual script would play out. The Irish Government would call on the DUP to support the formation of a Government and a functioning Executive. The usual suspects would be sent out to criticise us in the media. Then, in turn, others will come out who agree with our position, and the long circular standoff will continue.

The alternative to that negative, circular, corrosive narrative in Northern Ireland entails all political leaders choosing to see the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement as a moment of opportunity to work together to think beyond their own base and make decisions to serve all of Northern Ireland, as leaders did 25 years ago.

I have spent hundreds of hours with all the current leaders in Northern Ireland. I consider Ms Naomi Long, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Ms Michelle O'Neill, Mr. Doug Beattie and Mr. Colum Eastwood to be experienced politicians of genuine integrity. I know they can move this process forward if they agree to work together. The two Governments are available and the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and UK Prime Minister are ready to give whatever help is needed to move the process forward. It is now time to return government to Northern Ireland and serve people there with a democracy they voted for in the past and deserve in the future.

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