Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many of us see the importance of the Good Friday Agreement. There were many painstaking moves that needed to be taken over many years and still need to be taken to ensure the continuity of the trajectory of the agreement. We all realise where we came from and it is about where we go to, that is, a better society and Ireland, somewhere that we can all share and a place where we all live. We have seen the importance with which the European Union sees the agreement. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs met with Maroš Šefčovič lately, who spoke about the great hope to the world that is the Good Friday Agreement. We all wish to see the DUP join with the rest of us and to have an up and running Executive and Assembly. Internal conversations may be happening within the DUP, but they cannot go on forever. We know local elections may play a part. I have been in Lurgan with Mary O'Dowd and in Portadown with Paul Duffy. I get that people want the Assembly back up and running. We are afraid of drift, that is, going from local elections into the marching season. I would like to think the Taoiseach's interactions, especially with Rishi Sunak and the British Government, are all about the necessity of not allowing that drift to happen. It is just far too important.

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