Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement entitled "Lessons from the Architects of the Good Friday Agreement", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 27th March, 2023.

The recent anniversaries of the signature of the Good Friday Agreement and of its resounding endorsement by referendum have provided an important period of reflection across these islands. To mark this period, the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, of which I am Cathaoirleach, undertook an ambitious project to gather lessons from the architects of the agreement, including how it came about and the key influences in getting it over the line.

In the year leading up to the anniversary of the agreement, we heard from a huge number of witnesses, including well-known public figures and people who worked behind the scenes. In all, we heard from 17 witnesses across 14 meetings from May 2022 to March 2023. The witnesses included renowned and key movers who were still alive. We spoke to civil servants, particularly from the Department of Foreign Affairs, politicians from the UK, Northern Ireland and the US and many other players. I will take this opportunity to name them. We heard from: Tim O'Connor, David Donoghue and Rory Montgomery, all former senior officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs; Jonathan Powell, chief of staff to former Prime Minister Tony Blair; Mark Durkan, former leader of the SDLP, a key member of the party's negotiating team and a former deputy First Minister; Lord Alderdice, former leader of the Alliance Party and first Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly; Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach, who has done consistently impressive work since that time in furthering peace; former US Senator George Mitchell, who received praise from all sides for his Trojan and dedicated work as co-chair of the multiparty negotiations; John Bruton, former Taoiseach; Gerry Adams, former leader of Sinn Féin; Wally Kirwan, former senior official at the Department of the Taoiseach; Ambassador Eamonn McKee, formerly a senior official in the Department of Foreign Affairs; Martin Mansergh, former Deputy and Minister of State; Sir John Major, former UK Prime Minister; Liz O'Donnell, former Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs; Bronagh Hinds, former member of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition; and Lord Empey, a key member of the Ulster Unionist Party negotiating team in the multiparty negotiations and former Northern Ireland Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. The wide range of evidence these witnesses provided is all available online for future historians and anybody interested in studying how the peace came about, how it was kept and what we need to do in the future to continue the excellent work of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

It was clear from the committee's discussions that the promise of the Good Friday Agreement remains unfulfilled. Sadly, its institutions have operated only fitfully. Some of the elements of the agreement have yet to be implemented at all. While Northern Ireland has achieved peace, it has not achieved reconciliation. The political leaders of Northern Ireland and the British and Irish Governments, as co-guarantors of the agreement, must act together urgently to redouble their commitment to the agreement, which must be implemented in full. The committee urges the political parties of Northern Ireland to return to power-sharing as soon as possible. A unique aspect of the committee is that it is not just composed of Senators and Deputies. Every Member of Parliament who is elected in Northern Ireland to the House of Commons has the option and the right to come to our meetings, speak at them and be heard clearly. They do not have the right to vote. Of the 18 Members of Parliament who are elected in Northern Ireland, 12 of them participate regularly in all our meetings. They include elected representatives of Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Alliance Party. The one absence is the voice of the unionist population, which is probably the most important voice we need to hear if we are to continue the peace and get the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running. I take the opportunity to acknowledge in particular that Lord Empey came to our meeting and discussed the issues with us in a public forum.

It is evident from the committee's deliberations that a strong partnership between the British and Irish Governments, underpinned by trust, was absolutely essential to the success of the Good Friday Agreement. There have been different Prime Ministers since the agreement was signed. When the Irish and British Governments, particularly the Taoiseach and Prime Minister, work together and act in unison, it brings about the largest and most substantial changes. Anything that interferes with, changes, threatens or weakens that working relationship is not at all helpful. The problems we have had in this country and on our island recently are partly the consequence of changes in the membership and leadership of the British Government. It is only very recently, under the current Prime Minister, that our excellent relationships, which were absolutely top-class at the time of the agreement, have been fully restored and are getting stronger. For future peace on this island, and future economic and social co-operation on the east-west basis, it is essential that this continues. The point has been strongly made since Brexit that there are now reduced opportunities for contact at political and official level, notwithstanding an increase in meetings between senior officials and politicians. Effort must continued to be made to maximise the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement to support the bilateral relationship.

As the House will be aware, the Executive in the North is not functioning, the North-South bodies are not functioning and the North-South Ministers are not meeting. The east-west relationship is improving, however. Whatever happens and whenever the Executive is restored, it is my view that part of the restoration should be that the North-South bodies be strengthened and should have greater emphasis, notwithstanding the current situation. Under the Good Friday Agreement, everyone is entitled to have their identity - whether it is nationalist, unionist or neither - set out and supported. Strengthening our relationships on the island, politically, socially and economically, which is what our committee is about, is the way forward, and we are making progress on that.

Without the enormous contribution of the United States, the peace process would not have happened. Senator George Mitchell and President Bill Clinton were key players in that regard. The continued support from the United States to peace on this island is absolutely vital. The presence in this House of President Biden - and his visit to the North - was a huge bonus and a plus in securing stability and continued interaction in that relationship, and the continued support from America is essential.

Members of our cross-party committee visited the United States. We went to Washington DC and met with senior politicians. We also met with senior officials in the State Department. The committee also went to the United Kingdom and met with, among others, Lord Caine. We discussed the issues and the continuing need to keep improving our relationships. Some of the key issues arising out of the current discussions, and a source of deep concern for all the parties we have met in the North and the South, are the legacy issues and the legislation currently going through the House of Lords, the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, sponsored by Lord Caine. The latter is causing great concern and is a major impediment to the progress we all need in the context of reconciliation. Our committee calls for a renewed focus on reconciliation. The unanimous view of the committee is that the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill should be abandoned. We call for a collective path forward that is centred on the victims and their families. It is key that they are at the core of any future relationship in building peace on this island.

It is also true that an entire generation has, thankfully, now grown up without experiencing the turmoil that blighted Northern Ireland and destroyed relationships. More than 3,500 people died. Hopefully, all of that is behind us now. We celebrate this and we welcome it. The committee believes there is a danger that the Good Friday Agreement is a victim of its own success. It is easy for some people to feel that getting the Good Friday Agreement was inevitable, or that peace can be taken for granted. It cannot. We know this from the attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell in the North. I am delighted Mr. Caldwell's health has improved. It shows us how close violence continues to be under the surface in our society.

As Senator George Mitchell said at our committee:

For anyone under 25, this all happened before they were born, but we must keep reminding ourselves and them what is at stake and encourage them as best we can to reach agreement. There is no magic formula I or any external person or force can suggest or impose on them. It must come from within - from the courage, strength and vision of the current political leaders of Northern Ireland in particular but also Ireland and the UK.

We undertook this project to ensure that the experiences of those who negotiated the agreement can inform our politics of today. This report clearly puts on record an example of the best that politics can be. The Good Friday Agreement was the result of the bravery, empathy, understanding, patience and, most of all, the determination of all parties to ensure that peace came to our island and the foundations were clearly laid for this historic political settlement. We hope this report will help to preserve those values for the next generation of political leaders as they face challenges yet to come.

Mar sin molaim don Dáil glacadh leis an tuarascáil seo. Tá sé soiléir gurb é an fáth go bhfuil síocháin ann ná go raibh na páirtithe go léir ag obair le chéile chun deireadh a chur leis an dúnmharú. Bhítear ag iarraidh go mbeadh cead ag éinne sa Tuaisceart aon rud a theastaigh uathu a fháil agus da mba poblachtánaithe nó aontachtóirí iad, go mbeadh an tseans agus an ceart sin acu. Go leana an síocháin go deo agus nach dtitfeadh aon rud amach sa tír ar an oileán seo san am atá le teacht gan tromlach na ndaoine sa Tuaisceart agus sa Deisceart a bheith sásta go dtarlódh sé. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go bhfuil léirithe ag Rialtas Shasana ach go háirithe agus ag an Rialtas anseo sa Deisceart, go nglacfaidís le haon rud a thagann ón dTuaisceart má bhíonn pobalbhreith ann ó thaobh Éire a bheith aontaithe nó gan a bheith aontaithe.

Tá mórán cainte ar an t-am atá le teacht. Tá sé in am dúinne go léir a bheith ag díriú ar cad is féidir linn a dhéanamh i dtreo is go mbeadh an rogha ag na daoine nua atá ag teacht - na daoine óga ach go háirithe - a meoin a nochtadh sa todhchaí ar cén sórt tír ar cheart a bheith ann. Beidh an Comhchoiste um Fhorfheidhmiú Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta ag díriú ar cad is féidir linn a dhéanamh, ar cén obair atá le déanamh ag an Rialtas, agus ar cén obair atá le déanamh leis na páirtithe sa Deisceart ach go háirithe, ó thaobh cúrsaí eacnamaíochta agus cúrsaí sóisialta de. Beimid ag díriú ar an gcomhoibriú gur féidir a dhéanamh le chéile ó thaobh cúrsaí cumhachta, ó thaobh cúrsaí sláinte, agus ó thaobh cúrsaí oideachais de. Tá a lán oibre le déanamh againn agus tá ár gcoiste dírithe ar an bprionsabal sin. Táimid ag caint le daoine ó thuaidh agus ó dheas faoi cad atá le teacht, cad is féidir linn a dhéanamh, agus conas mar is féidir an beart a dhéanamh le go mbeidh daoine sa Tuaisceart agus sa Deisceart ag comhoibriú lena céile; go mbeadh an tír i bhfad níos fearr; go mbeadh deireadh go deo leis an gcogadh agus an dúnmharú a bhí ann; agus go mbeadh síocháin agus an próiseas síochána ann go deo.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Government, I welcome the report Lessons from the Architects of the Good Friday Agreement. The report is an important and timely contribution to our understanding of the agreement and the roles played by so many in shaping peace on our island.

Marking and celebrating the agreement and everything it made possible is a key priority for the Government in this milestone anniversary year. We have delivered a range of events both at home and abroad to that end, and I am very glad that the Oireachtas has also played a prominent role in marking the 25th anniversary. There have been a range of debates and motions in Dáil Éireann and the Seanad to which Members from across the political families of the Oireachtas have contributed. While there may be many other issues on which we differ, it is fair to say that the Oireachtas has been as one in voicing its support and recognition for the transformational effect of the Good Friday Agreement.

I would like to pay particular tribute the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, whose work has been central to how the Oireachtas has engaged with this anniversary. The enormous effort invested by the Cathaoirleach of the committee, Deputy O’Dowd, and by the members as a whole, is evident in the excellent report Lessons from the Architects of the Good Friday Agreement. The report is full of insight and hard-won lessons. I am particularly pleased that the report and the individual testimonies by those who played a central role in the negotiations are available on the Oireachtas website, ensuring that they are widely available to the public.

The Good Friday Agreement is a remarkable achievement that broke the cycle of violence that ravaged the island of Ireland for 30 years. On 7 March, I participated in a Seanad Private Members' debate on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Listening to the statements of the Members of that House, I was struck by the impact made by the evidence they heard while preparing this report, which directly influenced many of their interventions. Reading the report myself, I was struck by the debt that we owe to those who sacrificed so much to make peace possible. There are many people alive today because Hume and Trimble, Ahern and Blair, and many others, came together for peace. In doing so, they often faced criticism from their own supporters and friends. They made difficult compromises on decommissioning, the release of paramilitary prisoners and changes to our Constitution. They did so because they were motivated by the needs of the people of Northern Ireland and of this island and these islands as a whole. The leaders who worked to agree the Good Friday Agreement understood what their people needed because they were grounded in their communities.

John Hume was a teacher first, at St. Columb's College in Derry. Before he was ever elected to any parliament, John was the president of the Irish League of Credit Unions at 27, having established the first ever credit union in Northern Ireland at only 23. I have seen the excellent work done by credit unions in my own constituency. I know that the credit union movement has improved the lives of many. For John, it was a way of ensuring that hardworking people had access to the credit they needed to build better futures for their families.

Building a better future gets to the heart of what the Good Friday Agreement was about: breaking the old cycles of violence and patterns of mistrust, and committing collectively to making something better together. John Hume often reminded us, "you can't eat a flag; real politics is about the living standards, about social and economic development." Politics is about real people, issues affecting local communities and making lives better. When politicians are grounded in their communities and are motivated by a conviction that it is their duty to make the lives of their citizens better, they can take difficult decisions.

We in this House know that the common interest must always take priority over political expediency. We know that leaders sometimes have to make challenging decisions, because they are in the best interests of those they represent. Political leadership is as vital today as it was 25 years ago. Northern Ireland needs, deserves and is entitled to a functioning Executive and Assembly to make decisions locally. The current blockage benefits no one, delivers for no one and only curbs the ability of elected representatives to serve the needs of their constituents. It also impedes the functioning of strand two of the Good Friday Agreement. It is vital that the North-South Ministerial Council is allowed to continue its work as soon as possible.

Local political leadership was essential to the initial agreement. As the architects’ report reminds us, addressing issues of common concern provided a way forward in the 1990s. Reg Empey told the committee that local government gave parties the opportunity to do "something to improve the lot of their constituents but which did not require any significant political sacrifices or arguments over national issues." This built trust and relationships that later became central to formal negotiations on peace.

In Northern Ireland, civil society has often been called upon to fill gaps left empty by politics. The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition is a key example of this. Recognising that women had been almost entirely omitted from the preceding negotiations, a group of women, all active in education and civil society, demanded and earned their rightful place at the negotiating table. Reading the committee's report, Bronagh Hinds's reflections on the coalition's cross-community membership who, upon joining, signed up to being "willing to reach an accommodation" were particularly striking. They approached the negotiations utterly convinced of the need to reach an agreement. Through their work as civil society practitioners, they saw the cost at community level every day of the absence of peace. The women's coalition is the surest proof of the idea that peace is ultimately made possible by people; by politicians like Nobel laureates, John Hume and David Trimble, who led their parties to a deal, but also by community leaders who crossed sectarian lines to create a better future for all. Even through the darkest years of the Troubles, grassroots organisations worked hard to build connections across communities.

This was explicitly acknowledged in the agreement, which recognised and valued the work done by community organisations. It saw them as having a "vital role in consolidating peace and political agreement." The Government has long acknowledged this role and sought to empower civil society in pushing forward the work of peace and reconciliation. In 1982, the Government established the reconciliation fund, which since then has provided more than €60 million to organisations across the island of Ireland working on building and sustaining peace.

We have been proud to support transformative work being done across the island by all traditions and communities from youth groups and sports clubs to organisations empowering rural practitioners, the many vibrant women's organisations, those supporting victims and survivors, and many more. There is a strong will at all levels of civil society to heal the wounds of the past and to make this island a better, more reconciled place. This year the Government will spend more than €5 million via the reconciliation fund to build better relations within and between traditions. In building these connections the fund works towards the true reconciliation envisaged by the architects of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement transformed what we thought was possible and what we could hope for in the future. It transformed relationships at every level across these islands. It has created new opportunities for North-South and east-west co-operation. It is for this reason that the Government's shared island initiative is working to enhance co-operation, connection and mutual understanding on the island and engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus on a shared future.

Through the shared island initiative, we have committed €1 billion up to 2030 to deliver all-island investment commitments, including the Narrow Water Bridge project, which recently went out to tender. Through a €40 million North-South research programme for higher education institutions, we are supporting all-island collaborations that build mutual understanding.

The Government knows that civil society has an important role to play in building a new shared future. It is for this reason that the new shared island civic society fund is making funding available to organisations working on a North-South basis in communities across the island of Ireland, building their capacity to address the next generation of challenges.

An issue that has arisen time and again in this House is the strong concern shared across all parties on the British Government's current approach to dealing with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland. The Government believes that the British Government's legacy Bill has the potential to do real damage to society across Northern Ireland, if it passes, and so does every major victims group in Northern Ireland.

The Tánaiste met with the WAVE Trauma Centre on his first visit to Northern Ireland. He also met with Justice for the Forgotten, and spoke at the recent commemoration of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. The Ministers, Deputies Harris and Humphreys, met with WAVE and the family of Columba McVeigh earlier this week. I have met with Amnesty International to hear its concerns on the legacy Bill. We continue to prioritise hearing directly from civil society voices and those most directly affected by this Bill. We have raised our shared concerns at the highest political level and will continue to do so.

I know we have the support of Members across the House as we urge the British Government to pause the Bill and to engage meaningfully with victims and their families, and the Northern Irish parties. Any way forward on legacy must be based on agreed human rights standards, with victims at its centre. Every victim and survivor deserves the right to access justice. I know that members of the committee have been particularly engaged in opposing the Bill and I thank them for this.

While this report highlights the pivotal role played by the architects in crafting the Good Friday Agreement, it is also important that we take a moment to acknowledge that the Good Friday Agreement belongs first and foremost to the people of this island. Just over 25 years ago, on 22 May 1998, the people went to ballot boxes located in schools, community centres and halls on both sides of the Border across this island. In Northern Ireland, when the people voted on the text of the Good Friday Agreement, 71% of them voted for peace. In this jurisdiction we went directly to the people via referendum to change our Constitution, to reflect commitments made in the agreement, including a path to a united Ireland, which "shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people". We undertook to allow the State to be bound by the British-Irish Agreement. The referendum here passed with close to 95% approval, which was remarkable "Yes" vote by any account. The endorsement by people across the island gives the agreement enduring democratic legitimacy; and it confers on both Governments and the parties in Northern Ireland a special duty to protect the agreement and the peace it brought about.

This report is a vital and timely reminder that peace needs tending. The Government will not be found wanting in this regard. Peace and reconciliation on this island will always be our priority.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I acknowledge the work of the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, Deputy O’Dowd, and Deputy Brendan Smith who is also present. It was a hugely interesting piece of work for us to do as a committee. I thank all the witnesses who gave witness to what it was like for them, the challenges and opportunities they had and the setting out of the Good Friday Agreement. It was a phenomenal international achievement to get an agreement that did what the Good Friday Agreement did. It was important to look back at the first 25 years after the agreement and see how it worked out and what was done under it. It also gave us an opportunity to see where we are and what we have achieved and to look forward. It also served its purpose in that sense.

It is important to look at some of what the agreement contained, for instance, its recognition that it is "the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland. That was hugely important in what the agreement was trying to achieve. As the committee went through its work, members saw that many elements of the Good Friday Agreement have yet to be implemented. That knowledge gives us an opportunity and impetus to implement them. Both the British and Irish Governments, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, have a responsibility to do so. To take the bill of rights and the failure to implement an all-island charter of rights, for example, we must concentrate on how we will achieve that together and ensure that what was laid out in the Good Friday Agreement is implemented. The agreement also provided for parity of esteem. The whole ethos of the agreement is based on parity of esteem and that, too, must be a focus.

We mentioned the legacy Bill earlier and the problems it puts in focus. Even at this late stage, I urge the British Government to look at what all the human rights organisations and victims are saying about this Bill. Everyone agrees. There is cross-party agreement across this island on the Bill. Internationally, Amnesty International and other commentators agree. I recently heard Nuala O'Loan speak about it. She stated the Bill does not lend itself to amendment. It must be scrapped. Members of the committee will travel to Westminster again in a few weeks' time to plead with those who are intent on pushing the legacy Bill through. The Cathaoirleach agreed earlier that there has been an improvement in British-Irish relations. It is damaging to British-Irish relations for the British to unilaterally go ahead with this legacy Bill. They must withdraw it at this stage. I urge them not to put the Irish Government in a position where the only alternative is to take an inter-state case. No one wants to see that but, at the same time, we cannot leave a situation where individuals across the North are left to try to fight this on their own. There will be an obligation on the Irish Government to do that.

I also acknowledge the role of the US Administration, including, in recent times, President Biden, Richard Neal in the Ways and Means Committee and of others in the US Administration. I also acknowledge the part Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George Mitchell and many others played at the time. It was great to hear from George Mitchell as part of the committee's discussions. I thank all of them for standing fast to protect the Good Friday Agreement and ask them to continue to do so. In that vein, I also acknowledge the contribution of EU member states, especially post-Brexit, in protecting the Good Friday Agreement and what it meant.

In the other work we are doing in the committee we are also looking at economic opportunities. It is hugely interesting, for instance, to look at the IBEC report, For Peace and Prosperity. We have a real opportunity to create a new, independent united Ireland. I was taken by the Ireland's Future event, especially the contribution by Gerry Adams in which he stated:

Let it be very clear: unionists have a place of right in the new Ireland... The unionist population and its political representatives working with the rest of us on this island is the surest guarantee that their cultural identity - British and unionist - will prosper and be protected in a new independent Ireland.

That is where we are at this stage. We are looking forward to the opportunities that will be created. In the economic contributions to the committee, we heard that we have never had an opportunity to really look at our welfare and pensions systems and what underpins us as a society in a new Ireland. We have an opportunity to look at those values and to have those values reflected in our all-island approach to health, tourism, education and many other areas. Let us together grab these opportunities that are presented to us in our generation and create that new Ireland so that we can look forward to the next 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement.

I once again call on the Irish Government to provide us with an opportunity for a citizens' assembly. As one of the co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, it has an obligation to prepare. That is set out. I ask the Irish Government to set up a citizens' assembly that will be able to look at all these aspects and prepare for a referendum on Irish unity. I ask the British Government to set a date for a referendum on Irish unity to bring us forward through the next 25 years.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Good Friday Agreement was a momentous achievement, not only by political leaders on the island of Ireland but also facilitated by political leaders in the United States, the European Union and others internationally. I am almost 50 now. It was half my life ago. In the first half of my life, I witnessed nothing but conflict. I saw it in my family first hand, in my community and across the Border in the nearest city, Derry. The agreement was of huge importance but it must be nurtured. That is why there has been a range of agreements since the Good Friday Agreement to try to embolden it. We had the Weston Park Agreement in 2001, the St. Andrews Agreement in 2006, the Hillsborough Agreement in 2010, the Stormont House Agreement in 2014, the Fresh Start agreement in 2015 and the most recent agreement, New Decade, New Approach, in 2020. We can see that the agreement needs consistent nurturing and challenging. In recent times, the role of the Conservative Party Government in Britain has been of huge concern. It clearly built a relationship with the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, which I believe led to the collapse of the institutions. It has engaged in utterly reckless political behaviour for its own selfish interests. It dispensed with the DUP when it suited, but we are all still dealing with the mess.

Clearly, the Irish Government is a co-guarantor. It must consistently challenge the British Government when it acts in bad faith. I will wrap up with a few areas on which the Irish Government needs to step up, including voting rights for Irish citizens in the North. They should have the right to vote for their President the next time the opportunity comes around in 2025. It would be outrageous if there were no referendum to allow that to happen. It should happen at the earliest opportunity. We also need a citizens' assembly.

We are on the pathway to Irish reunification. What happened with Brexit was reckless. There was no preparation or dialogue and we were let slip and sleepwalk into that scenario. I appeal to the Irish Government to organise a citizens’ assembly to prepare responsibly for the question that will inevitably be put to our people in the next decade about Irish reunification.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank all Members for their contributions. I acknowledge once again the significant work undertaken by the Cathaoirleach, Deputy O’Dowd, and all members of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in producing this comprehensive and timely report. Through their engagement with political leaders from the British and Irish Governments, Northern Ireland political leaders, civil society, civil servants and advisers, they have pulled together many different threads which contributed to the success of the multi-party negotiations and a sustained peace from which this island has benefited since then. As the report makes clear, a multitude of different factors coalesced to create the conditions that allowed the Good Friday Agreement to be signed on 10 April 1998 including a partnership approach between the UK and Ireland, the engagement of the US and other international partners and the political courage of those involved in the negotiations. However, as Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, I want to put particular focus on the significant role played by the EU both at the time the agreement was signed and in subsequent decades. As the report makes clear, the EU played an important part in helping the seeds of peace take root in Northern Ireland, not least by providing a shared space where the British and Irish politicians and officials could work on practical issues of common importance. This allowed relationships to develop in a different context, paving the way for the co-operation that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement. EU membership also helped to facilitate cross-Border trade and development of a closely integrated all Ireland economy, which has benefited communities North and South and has strengthened prosperity across the island.

To this day the EU continues to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland through the promotion of social and economic progress. This includes funding provided through PEACEPLUS and, most recently, through the agreement reached on the Windsor Framework which will bring stability, predictability and new economic opportunities to Northern Ireland. However, Northern Ireland cannot maximise these opportunities without a functioning power-sharing institution. It is clear both from the report and our discussions here today that the absence of a functioning Assembly and Executive is having a significant detrimental impact on people’s daily lives. The difficulties facing Northern Ireland in budgetary terms, as well as key sectors including health and education, require local leadership. It is essential that politicians elected last May and the Assembly are allowed to take their seats in order that they can make decisions which respond to these challenges.

The architects of the Good Friday Agreement displayed political courage. They rejected the politics of fear and division and took difficult but necessary decisions needed to construct a better future for Northern Ireland. As we celebrate all that their leadership made possible, it is important that we acknowledge where we have fallen short and redouble our collective efforts to achieve the vision set out in the agreement. Putting in place an agreed framework on dealing with the legacy of the past has been one of the most challenging aspects of the peace process yet without a collective agreed framework which has the support of victims, survivors and their families for dealing with the past, genuine reconciliation may remain elusive. Many of those interviewed by the committee for its report expressed grave concern about the British Government’s Bill that is currently making its way through the House of Lords. The Government shares these concerns and the Taoiseach and Tánaiste raised it with their British counterparts and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at every opportunity.

Twenty-five years ago, the Good Friday Agreement made a new and better future possible. Since that time, we have strived to achieve the vision although this is sometimes imperfect. As we celebrate a quarter of a century of agreement, we should recognise how much has been achieved, renew our commitment to building a new beginning and agreement that it represents and to take the next steps with confidence and determination to act with today’s challenges and to achieve the full reconciliation that the Good Friday Agreement makes possible.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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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.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. That concludes what was a very important debate. I thank the committee for bringing forward its report on behalf of Oireachtas Members.