Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998. It was a seismic agreement that ended decades of violence that had pitched extreme elements within communities against one another based on ideas of religion, inequality, the retention of political power and the perception of ethnic identity through the prism of the past. The agreement paved the way for the development of a new understanding based on the recognition of an opportunity for all and the acceptance that inequality breeds discontent. It enshrined a recognition of the need for mutual respect and a need for citizens to share an ability to influence public and political policy and effect social and political change.

Since 1998, the Good Friday Agreement has charted a way to deliver for all the people of Northern Ireland an opportunity and a mandate that reflects the greater wishes of the majority of the Northern Ireland people. However, the path has not been without its obstacles. Just as the late John Hume, the former deputy First Minister, the late Seamus Mallon, the former First Minister, the late David Trimble, and others struggled to see the Good Friday Agreement realise a permanent, peaceful and prosperous solution to the Northern Ireland question, for us, the issues of Brexit have come into sharp relief. These issues have led to the latest stumbling block to advancing the aspirations to equitable power-sharing and equitable voices for all the communities in the North of Ireland.

The economic truth, as the Tánaiste will be aware, is that the North of Ireland is doing well, and very well potentially, under the structure of the Windsor Framework. The benefits already accruing to the North of Ireland can be seen in the past 24 months of economic data and have been reference by many in Northern Ireland business. The prize of advancing prosperity is also to advance the well-being and the economic opportunity for each and every individual in the North of Ireland.

The recent visit of President Biden clearly showed the international commitment that exists to support the Northern economy as it continues to emerge and movement away the hateful events of the past. That economic development has to be fundamentally structured on a political governance that is strong and that recognises the difference in analysis between the points of view but wishes to arrive at the same understanding and outcome for the benefit of all in Northern Ireland.

The current logjam in reconvening the Stormont Assembly and the Northern Ireland institutions is one of political will, in my opinion, and it requires significant movement of political leaders' attitudes and beliefs. The historic narrative of Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley working together to improve the lives of the people of the North of Ireland is what politicians must hold onto and not the banners of the past, which were of their time but must now be dispensed with.

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