Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Fáiltím roimh an méid atá ráite ag gach duine sa Teach inniu. Measaim gur féidir linn go léir leanúint leis an obair, ag comhoibriú agus ag obair le daoine ó thuaidh agus ó dheas ach go háirithe. I thank all the contributors for their remarks so far on the committee’s report. It is a collective report and the committee works in a very collective manner. We all get on very well. We really do; we respect everybody and respect their place.

I want to speak for a moment about somebody for whom I think we need to show greater respect than we have, namely, David Trimble. He made a unique and special contribution. He put unionism in the place where it, or at least unionism’s major party at that time, signed up to the Good Friday Agreement. The Ceann Comhairle held an event last week when his contribution to Irish political life was remarked on again. One thing that was said was that he was not a very easy man to get on with, a bit like many of us here, but he was a great man. He was a man who put his signature on a page and that page was for the future progress on this island recognising everybody’s needs and aspirations. Whatever we do in the future, we have to get his political equivalent from the unionist community to buy into whatever changes, if any, there are to be in the future on this island. To do that we must do a lot of serious thinking. We are doing the economic and social studies and looking at education and transport and all those issues. Any unionist I talk to say “Yes, we will co-operate on all these issues”. To them, economic progress, more employment and so on is good but it is the political issue that we have to deal with together collectively on this island. Political change happens and is a good thing because it brings in new people and new ideas. We need new ideas here in the South to put a proposition to all the people in the North to which they can all sign up and is encompassed in the North-South bodies, the east-west relationships and so on. It has not worked so far; it has worked well but it has not been absolutely successful. I detect from all the colleagues have been speaking on the committee a sincere determination and commitment to try to find that way. We had a submission from our ambassador in Canada on how the Canadian federation emerged and how to bring about a new way of doing business that brings people closer together, notwithstanding their political differences. That is the place we need to go. Clearly, as others have said, the giants of the peace agreement – obviously, John Hume, Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and so on – are all history now. They did a fantastic job and it is our job and the job of the next generation and the next government to carry the flag forward. I hope that our committee will be in the vanguard of that. It is remarkable in some respects that, as I said earlier, we can have 12 of the 18 Members of Parliament from Northern Ireland participating in the committee in this Oireachtas. And they do not just do it once a year; they do it once a week. It is salutary and very important. There is no challenge to their political aspirations or beliefs. They have equal rights, apart from voting rights, but we never divide on these issues. A lot of good work is done there.

We talk about the change in the 25 years and the new generation. In my constituency, I can look at County Louth and County Down. Twenty-five years ago, Dundalk had a name which I will not repeat now. It had a name for violence and trouble and there was a lack of investment or concern and huge unemployment. Newry also had a name and suffered greatly in investment and from unemployment and particularly youth unemployment.

The situation there has been utterly transformed by the Good Friday Agreement. Buzzing towns have become part of one city in Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry and so on. We all have a future together. People see that and want to build on it. That is what I am reflecting on, and that is the goodness I see. This is a very sensitive issue, however. We all know we can have problems very quickly if we do not plan appropriately and properly. The committee and I have found the Department of Foreign Affairs to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Any time we go somewhere, whether it be to the United States, Westminster or Belfast, the officials always give us the appropriate high level of connections. I cannot but praise the professionalism and dedication of the team in that Department from the top down. They are a credit to us. Their influence has been remarkable, and their commitment is very professional and personal.

I will mention two other matters. Along with some of my colleagues, I visited Bragan Bog this week. Our committee agreed to go to Bragan Bog to see where one of the remaining disappeared lies. It is a very difficult place to go. If people can imagine the loneliest place they can think of, that is it. It is the most remote, distant and unvisited place.

When we talk and listen to the families, and the WAVE Trauma Centre is doing a fantastic job, there will never be peace on this island until all the families of the disappeared can have those bodies returned and they can go to a place where they can respect, bury and honour them. I personally feel very strongly about that because it is wrong. It is never right that people can be buried forever in unmarked graves. When one meets the families, it torments them. It is entirely and absolutely unacceptable that people did this. Some of them are still there. I know many of the bodies have been recovered, but not all of them. All of us across all parties need to stand in those places where they rest, where we believe they are, and honour them across. We must say that we honour them and respect their families and we want them returned. That is the most important thing.

The most important message I can give my children and grandchildren is respect for human life, which is sacred and sacrosanct, and that people are entitled to bury their dead. I will leave it at that. I feel we have made much progress. The committee hopes to go to Belfast shortly to meet with all the political parties. I must say, I always find them very helpful and willing to meet and discuss matters. I feel progress has been made. This is the first of our reports, but this is marking the past. The next one will hopefully show the path for the future. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach as ucht an t-am a thabhairt dom labhairt libh inniu.

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