Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am talking about the Tories. Their attitude can be summed up as "we do not know and we do not care". However, I am concerned about the remarks the Taoiseach made about the Good Friday Agreement and the provision of a Border poll. The Taoiseach said he would be uncomfortable with a situation in which there was a vote of 50% plus one in favour of Irish unity but it is simply not up to him to decide. The agreement is explicit in recognising "the legitimacy of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland with regard to its status, whether they prefer to continue to support the Union with Great Britain or a sovereign united Ireland". The Good Friday Agreement is a legally binding international agreement. It was hard fought for and involved all democratic political parties in the North along with the two Governments and international partners. The Taoiseach cannot now cite the agreement when arguing against the excesses of Brexit and then cherry-pick the parts with which he is uncomfortable. In the same interview the Taoiseach rightly called for the extension of marriage equality to the North. If there were a referendum on this issue, would he accept a 50%-plus-one result? He also referred to the fact that the majority of the North voted to remain within the EU. Was this majority good enough for him in this case? The Good Friday Agreement contains many provisions that were unpalatable to republicans. In spite of this, Sinn Féin honoured and worked on all aspects of it. It is unacceptable now that the Taoiseach, as a representative of one of the co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, should seek to undermine one of its core principles. It was not too long ago that the only contribution about the North from politicians and commentators in this jurisdiction was to quote the principle of consent ad nauseam. Now when the prospect of a united Ireland is raised they cite stability and getting everybody on board. The Taoiseach's comments have caused uncertainty and are really unhelpful. The Irish Government needs to defend the Good Friday Agreement in its entirety and work to achieve any outcome that is democratically expressed by the people.