Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Our reflections over recent weeks on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement are drawing to a close. It was fascinating at the conference in Queen's University in Belfast last week listening to the insights of the main players involved in reaching the agreement.

I think in particular of Senator George Mitchell who chaired the peace talks. All of us on these islands owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the crucial role he played in the talks. His observation that the participants in the talks took real risks in signing up to the agreement is well made. Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, David Trimble, Gerry Adams, John Hume and all the rest of them who have been named in this debate so far all took real risks in their own ways and we are very grateful to them for that.

I have also been thinking over recent weeks about Fr. Alec Reid, the Redemptorist priest from Clonard Monastery in Belfast and the role he played in the early stages of the peace process. I had the privilege of meeting him on a few occasions when he visited our family home in north Dublin, delivering important messages at the time. A quiet, unassuming man, there is no doubt in my mind that he was a living saint.

I also had the honour recently of meeting with his colleague in the peace process Rev. Harold Good in Belfast. He continues to undertake important work in fostering peace between the two communities in the North.

Anyone who has read Monica McWilliams autobiography “Stand up, speak out” will be left in no doubt about the crucial role played by the Women’s Coalition in the peace talks. She writes about the appalling sectarianism she grew up with and the shocking misogyny she had to contend with. It is clear to me that women, given their priorities, insights and unique people skills, will always play an important role in conflict resolution generally. I listened to Deputy Seán Crowe’s contribution. He also listed a number of other women who were very active in the peace talks. It is right that they were named in this debate also. Monica McWilliams, Bertie Ahern and people like the former public servant Tim O’Connor continue their work for peace quietly and behind the scenes, in this case by trying to bring about the disbandment of paramilitary groups.

So where do we go from here? A hard-won peace is in place and the era of the so-called Troubles is at an end. We have got to get the executive and the Assembly at Stormont functioning again. A huge effort has been put into trying to resolve the impasse. The EU and the UK have agreed the Windsor Framework, headed by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the Commission vice president, Maroš Šefčovič. Yesterday, Maroš Šefčovič engaged with the Joint Committee on EU Affairs. It is clear that he considers the Windsor Framework a major achievement and that he is totally committed, with the British Government, to ensuring the full implementation of the framework. A lot of work still has to be done to ensure that.

Relations between Ireland and Britain have greatly improved. US President Joe Biden has appointed Joe Kennedy III as a special economic envoy to Northern Ireland and has talked about substantial investment in the North if political stability can be achieved. We need to attend to the unfinished business arising from the Good Friday Agreement and also tackle new challenges facing Northern Ireland society. These are issues such as the needs of victims and survivors, the so-called legacy issues, which we have discussed on many occasions in the House. We have put forward our strong opposition to UK Government proposals in that regard. There is also the need for a bill of rights and the establishment of a civic forum. The health service in Northern Ireland is in crisis; education remains largely segregated. There is the crisis in the public finances and the cost-of-living crisis. Reconciliation is still a work in progress.

In this context I would also like to recognise the worked of Corrymeela and the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation. The shared island initiative also feeds into this process and in particular the shared island dialogue which the Tánaiste was responsible for establishing. The engagement with young people and, again, with women about the future society they would like to achieve for themselves is particularly notable. Important work is being done in that forum.

I am reminded of Senator Mitchell’s call on the current and future political leaders to show the same courage and vision as their predecessors did 25 years ago. All of us have a role to play in that. Other speakers have mentioned it already. We, as Members of the Oireachtas, have a role to play in reconciliation and in advancing the details of the Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that it is fully implemented.

There have been calls for reform of the Stormont power-sharing structures. These followed last years Assembly elections. As we know, the Alliance Party did well in the 2022 elections. It does not identify as nationalist or unionist and is deemed “other”. We now have a situation where each community has a veto, where there has to a coalition and where one side cannot govern without the other. In the past, both Sinn Féin and the DUP collapsed the Northern Ireland institutions. However, the priority must now be to get a functioning Assembly and Executive up and running as soon as possible under the existing arrangements. The people of the North deserve this. Reform is something that can be considered in due course but not for the moment. The priority must be to get the institutions under the current arrangements up and running to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland get the government and Assembly they deserve and to start tackling the many problems, that I have outlined, that confront society in Northern Ireland.

I wish the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs well in their work on that, in their negotiations with the British Government and their interactions with the parties in Northern Ireland and their dealings with the EU and the US Administration. It is clear from the debate today that much work remains to be done in relation to implementing all the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement and also the issues and challenges that have emerged since then having regard to normal politics.

I will leave it at that. I had expected to share time but I was delighted to be able to make those few points as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement.

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