Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the Queen's University Belfast conference to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. [19259/23]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the Queen's University Belfast conference to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. [20293/23]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

On 19 April, I was delighted to give the closing address, along with Prime Minister Sunak, to the three-day conference at Queen's University to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel; the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; and former US President Bill Clinton also gave keynote speeches at this closing session, chaired by former Secretary of State, and now Chancellor of Queen's University, Hillary Clinton. It was great to hear a diversity of perspectives and to participate in such an interesting programme. A shared theme across all contributions was the political and personal courage of those who forged the agreement and their recognition that mutual co-operation and understanding was the only viable way forward. We all hope that what was learnt then can be applied to Northern Ireland today.

While I was at Queen's University, I had a short bilateral meeting with President von der Leyen, during which we discussed the political situation in Northern Ireland and the Windsor Framework, as well as our recent international engagements, including President Biden’s visit here and her visit to China. I also briefly met President Clinton to talk about developments in Northern Ireland. I had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sunak, where we discussed developments in Northern Ireland and the wider British-Irish relationship, as well as the broader domestic and global challenges. Our shared priority is the return of a functioning Assembly and Executive, and we committed to working together in the period ahead in ongoing support of the Agreement and its institutions. We discussed the potential economic opportunities ahead for Northern Ireland and the scope for further strengthening the British-Irish relationship. I also raised our concerns regarding the UK legacy Bill and the importance of a collective approach that has the backing of victims, survivors and the political parties in Northern Ireland.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his answer and his contribution at the conference. I was privileged to be present for most of the conference, which was excellent. It was inspiring to listen to those people who brought peace to our island by reaching the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. I was struck by many of the comments, particularly the contribution of former Senator George Mitchell. Two or three of his comments resonated with me in particular. He said it was his "genuine sincere hope, that people of Northern Ireland will get the self-governance that they’re entitled to". He spoke about ensuring it will be "possible for every child in Northern Ireland to go as high and as far as their talent and willingness to work will take them". He continued:

That’s the fundamental aim of democratic societies everywhere. And Northern Ireland, I think more than most, has people of energy, commitment and they deserve that chance.

That is exactly what the Taoiseach referred to. The clear message running through all of the contributions from former government leaders, people in political leadership roles today in government, the European Union and political parties North and South was that the institutions need to be up and running. We listened to Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and others talk about the huge challenges and issues they faced leading up to 1998, such as the huge constitutional issues associated with trying to set up institutions, reform policing and make major legislative changes. Surely it has to be possible to get the institutions - the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council - up and running. The Taoiseach will have heard former Congressman Joe Kennedy, President Biden's special envoy to Northern Ireland, speak about the importance of political stability and certainty for Northern Ireland's regulatory framework to ensure US investment is brought to Northern Ireland in order to benefit every community there with jobs.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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First, I want to condemn the sectarian abuse of a young mother in Lurgan on Sunday, which we know about because a camera captured the footage of what happened. The report highlights how much more we have to do to achieve a lasting peace.

I was unable to attend statements in the Dáil last week to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement because I was in Brussels, but my colleague Deputy Howlin articulated our Labour Party views. As he said, we must recognise that the institutions created by the Agreement have not functioned as they should and that political silos have grown, emphasising difference and division, with the middle ground parties squeezed and with a great deal of stagnation in terms of the functioning of the institutions.

I look forward to being in Belfast over the coming weeks to canvass with the SDLP in advance of the local elections on 18 May. What is the view of the Taoiseach and the Government on how we can ensure that one party cannot veto the wishes of the vast majority for a functioning devolved government in the North? What are the next steps for restoring the institutions? What approach will the Irish Government take? After the local elections have concluded on 18 May, what is the next step for the restoration of the institutions in the North and the restoration of functioning democratic procedures and processes through Stormont, the Assembly and the Executive?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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People have been celebrating the Good Friday Agreement for the past number of weeks. It was a phenomenal international agreement which has created peace for 25 years. It is not a living document, however; it is defunct. The Assembly is on the floor. The Executive is broken. The North-South Ministerial Council is AWOL at the moment. There is no urgency in terms of the Government's approach to fixing it. The Government is a guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement but is not guaranteeing it. The celebrations for the Good Friday Agreement are akin to having a birthday party for a person who does not have a pulse. The Government should be absolutely ashamed of the fact that there are no democratic institutions operating in the North.

The legacy Bill gives an amnesty for the British state in terms of murders that happened in Ireland for the past 50 years.

It is the son and heir of British murder and collusion over that 50-year period. I am shocked by the Government's very careful wording on this. The Government should be stating very clearly that it will bring the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights if it proceeds with the legacy Bill. The legacy Bill is likely to be finished in the House of Commons at the end of this month and signed into royal assent by King Charles, which is incredible. The British are going the opposite direction with regard to reconciliation with this country and fixing the wrongs it is doing, and the Government is standing idly by.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I will raise the question of how a shared island works out when it comes to women's healthcare. When the repeal vote was won almost five years ago, it was famously declared that the North would be next. Now, however, we find that the North is way ahead of the Republic in its delivery of abortion care for women. Women have considerably more abortion rights in the North. There is no three-day wait. They have access up to 24 weeks for pill and surgical abortions, with a multidisciplinary team agreeing on the procedure. Abortion is fully decriminalised and it is legal to perform an abortion in cases of severe foetal abnormality, with no time limit. All of these things are denied to women in the South and therefore, they have to travel. What does the Taoiseach say about trying to have harmony in abortion care North and South? Was this part of the discussion? I add that the North has free contraception for everybody, not according to age, which we were promised but still do not have.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Next Saturday, the British state will spend £100 million of public money on a coronation for "King Charles". James Connolly was right when he described the British monarchy as "tyranny imposed by the hand of greed and treachery upon the human race". The coronation comes at a time when 4 million children in Britain are facing food poverty. The monarchy as an institution is built on racism, privilege and empire. This is a very obvious attempt to rehabilitate that institution. Some republicans are saying they will attend the coronation on the grounds of reaching out to the unionist community. We think it is perfectly possible and necessary to build a united socialist movement of working-class people from Catholic, Protestant and non-religious backgrounds, not on the basis of this sort of anachronistic and hated institution but on the basis of the interests of ordinary people and the need for a socialist Ireland and a socialist world. Even in Britain, only 29% of people think the monarchy is very important. It is an increasingly unpopular institution. However, a viewer who turns on RTÉ on Saturday will be treated to four hours of the coronation. Why on earth is our State broadcaster spending four hours on a Saturday displaying this so-called coronation?

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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This is a republic. Whatever political differences there are, most of us identify with the aspect of it being a republic whereby we do not believe in kings and monarchs or inherited power and privilege, especially when it is associated with empire, colonialism and shocking inequalities between a tiny group among the royal aristocracy that has the inherited power and ordinary people. Against that background, while of course we all very much welcome the peace that arose, or at least accompanied, the Good Friday Agreement, there is an idea that building bridges should extend to us having an uncritical approach to a coronation, something that most of the remaining royal houses in Europe have completely abandoned. They do not have coronations anymore; it is not legally required. Yet, this weekend, a considerable amount of public money in Britain will be spent on this coronation, which is an insult to considerable numbers of people living in poverty in Britain and the national broadcaster in this country will broadcast this for four hours. Is that really an appropriate thing to do from the standpoint of a republic?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I have to concur with Deputy Brendan Smith's remarks about the quality of the conference in Queen's University. I extend my thanks and congratulations to those who organised it. I was only sorry I could not be here for the Wednesday, because of my responsibilities here, but I managed to get the read-out of Senator Mitchell's speech. The point Senator Mitchell made, as Deputy Smith said, was solid. The peace process, over the course of the past 25 years and more, has seen many great challenges around policing and decommissioning and those challenges were overcome. Those were much greater challenges than the ones we face now and we need to make sure we overcome the current challenges we face.

I join with Deputy Bacik in condemning the sectarian attack in Lurgan. We can all agree with that.

When it comes to restoring institutions in Northern Ireland, it is not quite as simple as saying that one party has a veto. Only two parties have a veto, Sinn Féin and the DUP, by virtue of the fact that they are the major parties representing unionism and nationalism. Both parties have brought down the Executive in recent years. If there is a time to review the Good Friday Agreement - it has been done before at St. Andrews - I do not think that time is now. The appropriate time for doing that and discussing any potential future changes is when the institutions are up and running and the mandate given by the people at the last Assembly election is honoured. That has to happen before any of those rules can be changed again. The British and Irish Governments are working together in our efforts to persuade the five parties to re-enter an Executive. So far, one party is not willing to do that. We hope further efforts can be made after local elections to change that picture.

I discussed the legacy Bill with Prime Minister Sunak and in my meeting President Biden. We are very clear as a Government in our opposition to the legacy Bill. We think it is the wrong approach. All five major parties in Northern Ireland are also against it. They do not always agree on everything, but this is one issue they agree on. It should not be imposed on Northern Ireland. As the Tánaiste has said, the Government is not ruling out taking legal action on this, but we are not at that point yet. Of course, others may take legal action. Even if it does become law - it will be interesting to see if it ever actually comes into effect - it has not become law yet and we have been very clear with the British Government in our views on that.

Abortion laws North and South were not discussed in any of my meetings. Laws in Northern Ireland are set by Westminster and Stormont; here they are set by the Oireachtas. We have different laws on different things. I do not necessarily think there is anything wrong with that, but I agree with the point on free contraception. We are expanding that at the moment and will do so further in the year ahead.

Regarding the monarchy, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and that position is supported by the majority of its people. That is something we should respect. Monarchies sometimes become republics; Barbados was the latest to do that. They do it when their people want to change their system of government. The majority of people in the United Kingdom want a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected parliament and government and I think we should respect their choices.