Mary Henry (Independent)

As another republican Protestant, I did not get the impression that Senator Brian Hayes was singling us out as being British. This is a different republic than when the Troubles began. While Northern Ireland has changed, this part of the island has also changed.

I support the motion tabled by the Government parties because this is a splendid day. Everyone in this Government and its predecessors is to be praised for what has occurred. We can praise many people within both jurisdictions and the rest of Britain. Without the efforts of populations, we would not be where we are today. I have been involved in some of those efforts.

There was little understanding between the people of Northern Ireland — we must be careful in saying that — and the republic. Sometimes, I believed that I was from a different planet despite having relatives on both sides of the religious divide in the North. In many ways, it is a strange place. I have been visiting the North since I was ten years old, but my main memory of it is the terrible divide at Goraghwood where customs officers searched everyone to determine whether they had bought extra clothes in C & A.

I was involved with the Irish Association which was set up in the 1930s by people with friends on both parts of Ireland to foster cultural, social and economic links. Even that long ago, they were afraid that the jurisdictions were drifting apart. It would be wonderful to say the organisation is redundant, that we have established so many cultural, social and economic links that there is no point in keeping it. At one time and to her great credit, its administrator, Barbara Sweetman Fitzgerald, lived for part of each week in Belfast, but lived in Dublin for most of her life. There was a great deal of work to be done between both places to keep things going.

In the late 1980s, I chaired an exciting meeting in Buswells Hotel at which the education committee of the Orange Order tried to educate us about it. The committee's members came to our house, but they were determined to cross the Border before midnight for some reason, which was fine. We had such a good time that some members left their coats behind, so they needed to return to get them another time.

I remember the meetings of the British-Irish Association, which the Government and, because the meetings cost money, many financial institutions supported. Meetings could be found at august destinations such as Cambridge and Oxford, but it was all Chatham House rules and one was not supposed to say what occurred. Some of it was leaked, but I am amazed by how little, including in terms of those present. It was worthwhile meeting people one would not have met otherwise, such as the late David Ervine.

I welcome that Senator Quinn mentioned the President and my constituent, Dr. Martin McAleese, who have done incredible work with communities in Northern Ireland and have held meetings at Áras an Uachtaráin attended by people from the North. Queues of cars waited to pass the gates as soon as they opened because the people from the North were enthusiastic. Without such meetings, I would never have met Lady Sylvia Hermon who I believe I can now call a friend.

I also applaud the efforts of former Deputy Paddy Harte and Glen Barr. The President and Queen Elizabeth attending the tower in Messines was an incredible occasion. Efforts relating to the First World War and Second World War demonstrate what we have done together, rather than what separates us.

Senator Quinn was right in another respect, namely, it is regrettable that there is more tribal sectarian polarisation than we would have believed possible. However, who would have believed that the first Chinese woman to be elected to a European parliament would come from south Belfast? Anna Lo, MLA, came from Hong Kong 20 years ago, but on the radio she sounds as if she is from south Belfast.

I congratulate the Government on all it has done, but as many people have stated, it is only a beginning. However, it has a surer foundation than it would have had a few weeks ago. We must be extraordinarily grateful for the efforts made by Northern politicians in that regard.