Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Bradford for raising this issue. He has spoken with a great degree of knowledge and passion on the subject of achieving a lasting peace on our island. The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation was established in 1994 following the first IRA ceasefire, and consisted of membership from across the Houses of the Oireachtas, as well as from political parties in Northern Ireland.

It met for the first time in Dublin Castle, chaired by Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness. Its terms of reference were, "To consult on and examine ways in which lasting peace, stability and reconciliation can be established by agreement among all the people of Ireland, and on the steps required to remove barriers of distrust, on the basis of promoting respect for the equal rights and validity of both traditions and identities". A draft report entitled, Paths to a Political Settlement, was published in 1996. However, as some Members will recall, the forum was suspended following the Canary Wharf bombing in February 1996. While it reconvened briefly in 1997, the then ongoing multiparty talks, referendum, elections and establishment of the institutions meant that no further meetings of the forum took place until it was reconvened again in November 2002. The context on that occasion was the suspension of the institutions in October of that year. The forum met on a handful of further occasions but has not met since February 2003. Several serving Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas were delegates to the forum in 2003, including Senators Bradford and Norris, as well as Deputies Eamon Ó Cuív and Jan O'Sullivan, and contributed to the important work which it was doing at that time.

The political and institutional context has changed significantly since. Since 2007, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly have been operating and delivering power-sharing government for the people of Northern Ireland. Without doubt, there have been significant political challenges over the period since, including in recent weeks and months. As we committed to at the time of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the responsibility and priority of the Government now, working with the British Government, is to support the power-sharing institutions in Belfast as they face the challenges of everyday government and the additional challenges of dealing with the legacy of the Troubles. Taken together with the other institutions established under the Agreement, including the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council, these are the appropriate fora in which to further lasting peace, stability and reconciliation, as the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation had done previously over a number of years.

The Good Friday Agreement set out the guiding principles for peace, stability and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, namely, devolution, power-sharing, agreement on sovereignty, human rights, parity of esteem, support for the rule of law and the continued shared responsibility of the two Governments to guarantee these principles. However, we must acknowledge that the full potential of the Agreement has yet to be reached. As is the case in any comprehensive political agreement, full implementation is essential to the integrity and balance of the whole.

The Government is also working to consolidate and to continue to implement the outstanding elements of the Good Friday Agreement and its related agreements, including an Irish language Act for Northern Ireland, a bill of rights for Northern Ireland and a North-South consultative forum. In terms of the North-South consultative forum in particular, many Members will share the view that the establishment of such a forum would stimulate more informed public debate on key societal challenges, North and South. For that reason, the Government will continue to press for its establishment as an essential part of the framework to deliver peace and reconciliation.

Most recently at the plenary meeting on 8 November 2013 of the North-South Ministerial Council, the Government expressed support for the re-establishment of the North-South Consultative Forum as a valuable and, as yet, unimplemented provision of the Good Friday Agreement. In terms of the work of the North-South Ministerial Council across government more broadly, we have been working hard and to great effect with the Northern Ireland Executive to advance areas of practical co-operation. We have intensified work since November 2013 focusing on potential new areas of North-South co-operation. Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Peter Robinson, commented recently that North-South relations are better than they have ever been. The Government shares this view.

Members of this House and of Dáil Éireann are playing a valuable role in facilitating discussions on the current political situation in Northern Ireland. The Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement regularly hears from a wide range of groups in Northern Ireland and undertakes visits there. The establishment of the North-South Interparliamentary Association in July 2012 was a welcome recent development arising from the ongoing implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Under the leadership of the Ceann Comhairle and the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the association has provided new opportunities for discussions between Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and members of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The association has had exchanges of views with a wide range of experts on EU issues, health matters and economic co-operation.

The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly is of much longer standing, having been established in 1990, in the aftermath of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. It is going from strength to strength. At its meeting last month, it considered a report on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement on its 15th anniversary and heard presentations on the workplace of the future.

I welcome this opportunity to debate Northern Ireland in Seanad Éireann. While I greatly appreciate the sentiment and concern behind Senator Bradford's suggestion, the Government believes the Good Friday Agreement institutions must be let get on with their work. Members of this House, and of the Dáil, have several different avenues where they can contribute to the promotion of peace and reconciliation on this island and across these islands. The peace and reconciliation thus far achieved on this island has been hard won and will continue to be consolidated by this Government as it continues the work towards the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as the best underpinning and framework for lasting peace, stability and reconciliation.