Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

We in the Republic must understand the British dimension in this jurisdiction and this country, as the British have begun to understand the Irish dimension. We can only come to understand the real totality of those relationships when we begin to see it as part and parcel of what we cherish in the Republic. There is a lesson in that for us as much as there is one in it for the British.

We need to single out one group more than any other as the real victors in this process. It is the minority group of people in both parts of Ireland — people from both traditions and backgrounds who often married each other. If there is any testimony, triumph or group of people for whom we should build a new Ireland, it is the group of people of mixed religious background and persuasion who quietly, in Northern Ireland in particular, married each other, raised their children and built a new Northern Ireland and a new Ireland. It is crucial that their contribution throughout the process is recognised and considered as well as the contribution of all political parties in Northern Ireland.

The new dispensation is not only about Sinn Féin and the DUP, it is a recognition of the role of the SDLP, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Alliance Party and Independents. Not everyone in Northern Ireland voted for the two big parties, the two big power blocs. That is crucial to understanding how we as a society and Northern Irish society will develop in the years and months ahead.