Seanad debates

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Power Sharing Agreement in Northern Ireland: Motion

 

6:00 pm

Photo of Ann OrmondeAnn Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I wish to share three minutes of my time with Senator Norris. I thank the Minister for updating the Seanad on this important matter. I congratulate the Minister and the Taoiseach on the effort, energy and commitment to bring this agreement to fruition. I warmly welcome the recent agreement reached at Hillsborough and look forward to its full implementation. Since we have reached an accommodation on these complex issues, there may be an opportunity to focus on and give our full attention to the issues of most concern to people throughout Ireland, including issues related to sharing health and education services, hospital, cancer and general practitioner services and school transport in rural and Border areas. These are major issues requiring all-Ireland thinking. We have a shared message on such issues as road safety, suicide prevention and obesity. We should pool our resources to deal with these issues to ensure we attain the best value and that we achieve full co-operation North and South. This is the way to tackle the problem.

We must think on an all-Ireland basis. I acknowledge the Government has made its contribution by upgrading the road between Derry and Letterkenny last year. That was a project developed under the north-west gateway initiative. An alliance has developed on the education front between the Letterkenny Institute of Technology and the University of Ulster. These are fine examples of what is taking place in the north west and we must continue to work in this area.

I acknowledge the support of the EU for the peace process which we rarely acknowledge and much credit is due. We should not be slow to acknowledge the extent to which the EU has supported the cause of peace, reconciliation and cross-Border economic growth in Ireland. It is very important to progress the North South parliamentary forum, a key to continued progress. We have held consultative fora, including a very good conference last October chaired by the Taoiseach which reflected the role of the social partners and community groups. This is the way forward. We must involve the people on the ground, not those at the top layer. That has already take place and it is now time to acknowledge that this is an all-Ireland process.

I refer to economic issues. We must consider the role of agencies south of the Border such as Enterprise Ireland and the Northern equivalent, Invest Northern Ireland. There are opportunities in this area and we should plan trade missions in Ireland and pool our resources in this area.

Political progress has been made during the past 15 years and it is great that we have accommodated the complex issues. It is to be hoped this will ensure stability, but the real test will be for politicians on all sides to get down to the brass tacks of working with the people. As other speakers have remarked, we must include the civic forum in the way forward as a way to represent the people as a whole, not only people at the top.

I refer to North-South co-operation and east-west co-operation through the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. We must work on such bodies and work more to strengthen the North-South axis. This is an all-Ireland process and we should begin to think in that way. We are moving in that direction. I compliment the Minister who has a great grasp of these issues. I have listened to the Minister as the debate has unfolded. I appreciate the amount of time and work he has put in to reflect our view in terms of where we go from here. I wish the Minister well in carrying out this good work in the North. I acknowledge it is important to have regular updates, to which the Minister has agreed, and the Chamber should be used increasingly to reflect such thinking. If this takes place we will make the Chamber worthwhile as a real place for contributions to get the North-South forum working and up and running.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.