Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, to the House. I express my appreciation and the House's appreciation to him for the work he is doing to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the principles it is built on, to ensure that it is implemented as fully as it can be and to protect the Irish Government's position on it. He represents the Taoiseach in that work, with whom he is in regular communication. The Taoiseach also met Prime Minister May before the process began on 5 March. The Taoiseach is remaining very vigilant on the issue as well with the Prime Minister and through the work of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. That is to be noted and acknowledged. That is not to ignore the fact that all is not as it should be, but the Minister is certainly doing his best in that sphere.

It is very disappointing, saddening and wrong that we do not have an agreement with the backdrop of Brexit and all that goes with that. It is a very difficult situation. I believe it is very regrettable and leaves a very dangerous vacuum. On my own behalf, on behalf of my party and I think on behalf of all of the Members of the House, I call on all of the parties in Northern Ireland to make a renewed and vigorous effort to achieve agreement. I believe it is so important and I will come back to that point. We very much need a functioning Administration in Northern Ireland at this time.

I am strongly of the view that we should support an Irish language Act being put on a statutory basis in Northern Ireland. It should be in existence. I hope that in the process of the completion of the talks that will be achieved. I say that from a number of perspectives. I am proud to be a member of Comhchoiste na Gaeilge, Gaeltachta agus na nOileán, the all-party committee on the Irish language. I hope that Irish language Act will be achieved. I know the Minister is clearly in support of it and he might comment further in his reply. I ask him to specifically comment further on his expectations around the Act as agreed in the St. Andrew's Agreement of 2006.

I gather and understand anecdotally, and it would seem from what the Minister has said, that progress has been made on dealing with the painful memories of the past and the legacy issues. I am very keen that the legacy institutions come into place. It is part of normalising society, dealing in some way with the awful memories of the past and getting closure for so many people. There is a huge necessity to build a functioning democracy and to hopefully eliminate sectarianism and all forms of human angst there. I am supportive of that. I am supportive of a very high level of public commitment to human rights in the North and statements thereof.

The Brexit issue is of such critical importance, as elucidated by the Minister and by Senator Daly. It is of crucial importance. It is estimated that about 30,000 trips are made up and down across the Border on a daily basis. Roughly 30,000 seems to be the best estimate, though there are varying estimates. People make those trips for schooling, social trips, kinship, agricultural business where people process on one side and produce in another farm straddling the Border, hospitalisation, medical reasons and a whole gamut of reasons. In very many cases, people make the trip for work as they live on one side of the Border and work on the other. For those people who cross the Border on a daily basis, the maintenance of a soft or invisible Border is vital.

It is vital to maintain the common travel area. We should acknowledge progress on two levels. We must acknowledge Prime Minister May's commitment to it and we can applaud ourselves as a Government, and the Minister too can be happy, that Prime Minister May in her letter to Mr. Tusk clearly stated that she is not in favour of a hard Border and wants to maintain the common travel area. That is progress.

Some months ago, we would have considered that to be a big issue. Now that it is achieved, we should not ignore it, nor should we be remiss in acknowledging what the Prime Minister has said. Through a lot of personal contact with Members of the UK Parliament that we meet through our work on committees and various means - the Council of Europe in my case and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in the case of the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Senator Feighan - I sense that there is a huge desire among the ordinary Members of Parliament in the UK to maintain the good relations that we have. I believe that should happen. We must maintain as much normality as we can. It is encouraging that the Secretary of State, Mr. James Brokenshire, was very clear yesterday in a statement in the House of Commons that direct rule was not an option he favoured. He was still asking and encouraging the parties to reach agreement. That is good.

I agree with Senator Mark Daly with regard to the interesting points he raised about East Germany and Cyprus. I agree that those should be cited. I ask the Minister to respond to that. The Minister knows from within our parliamentary party and in other fora that I have always had the view that we must find a specific solution for Ireland. We all aspire to Irish unity but, acknowledging the current political realities, we still effectively need a unitary solution for the country to maintain trade, business, tourism, agriculture and all of the sectors. That is crucially important and remains so. It is encouraging to see that there is at least a commitment there.

I again appeal to the parties in Northern Ireland to make an enormous effort to reach agreement. If ever there was need for a power-sharing Executive and for a distinct voice and advocacy for Northern Ireland, it is now. While we will of course seek a good outcome for the entire island as anything else would be wrong, and the Minister expressed a commitment to that in his address to the House, it is not as good as having an up and running Executive functioning in Northern Ireland and supporting that effort. There is a moral imperative on the parties in Northern Ireland to try to come together and form an agreement given the gravity of the situation and the threats presented by Brexit to Northern Ireland socially, economically, culturally and in every way. It is almost like an emergency situation. This is a very timely and important debate. I hope that the next time we discuss it in the House, we will be wishing the new Executive well.