Results 16,581-16,600 of 18,851 for speaker:Fergus O'Dowd

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I propose that we immediately go into private session. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Today, we have our second engagement with architects of the Good Friday Agreement. I welcome Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery. I thank them for giving of their time and attending. They are both distinguished former officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and were heavily involved in various aspects of the process that led to the Good Friday Agreement. I will read a note...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Please continue. Everything you have to say is of major interest to all of us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Mr. Brady may have misunderstood me. I was talking about the unionist party that lost out; I was not referring to the nationalist side. It was Mr. David Trimble-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: We have avoided political rancour. I know Mr. Brady is not introducing any, nor am I. I was referring to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: The point I was making is that if we are to move forward, we will need a unionist leader who will feel safe and secure is his or her community when it happens. Anyway, it is back to Mr. Donoghue and Mr. Montgomery, and then Mr. Brady or any other contributor.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I think Deputy Brendan Smith is next.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I call Senator Currie followed by Deputy Whitmore.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: On that point, the difficulty is that the First Minister could be from the Alliance Party, that is, outside the nationalist and unionist groups.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: However, the deputy First Minister cannot be.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I support what Mr. Montgomery is saying. If that is the problem, if a party that was neither one nor the other became the second largest party, not that I am suggesting that will happen, would it not make sense to change the agreement to allow for that to happen? It is the reverse of the first citizen-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I hear what Mr. Donoghue is saying.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: We will move back to Sinn Féin - if we have a Sinn Féin speaker.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: I think Mr. Montgomery said "a small majority".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: That might have been due to maybe having to share resources or a budget.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Before I move on to the Fianna Fáil speakers, some of us met the chamber of commerce in Derry and we met with some people there who spoke to us on that very point. If we in the South are serious about the North, we should be looking at investing in job creation there. They pointed out to us that 40% of the workforce in the city of Derry comes from the Republic. Given the interactions...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: And education.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: The agreement lays almost equal emphasis on the assembly and on the North-South bodies. It puts great emphasis on them, even though they do not iterate them, or they were post the agreement. The emphasis on the North-South bodies is very strong.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Architects of the Good Friday Agreement (Resumed): Mr. David Donoghue and Mr. Rory Montgomery (2 Jun 2022)

Fergus O'Dowd: Even though the reference may be absent from the agreement itself, in reality the emphasis is strong.