Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and thank him for his statement on Northern Ireland. It can be tempting when we think of Northern Ireland to look at its history. I do not want to dwell on the political history of Northern Ireland, the island of Ireland or indeed the United Kingdom for one minute. I had the privilege of being at a dinner held by the Goliath Trust at the Europa Hotel at which George Mitchell gave the after-dinner speech. Bertie Ahern was also there and there was a live link with Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair.

The Goliath Trust is an initiative which came out of the peace process to co-fund children and young people at disadvantaged schools from different cultural traditions and none. There was much conversation that night and music over the evening. That night I was struck by the number of young people who spoke of their disillusionment with both the DUP and Sinn Féin, who spoke of being let down. That is not a criticism of the parties, per se, but it is what they told me and I want to tell the House. They said that there was a vacuum, yet they had seen vigilantism, crime and a new appetite for aggressive and unacceptable behaviour in their communities and they felt helpless. They did not feel supported.

After a long evening, and various events the following day, having met teachers and community leaders, the thing I took away was that they all felt let down. In his own style, Bertie Ahern said something that only he could say - maybe he planned to say it - but he concluded the evening saying, "Lads, stop the messin'". I told someone that would be on the papers the next day, and sure enough The Mail Irish edition featured it. Our Bertie had come up trumps again. What he said was that the politicians ought to get on with the job that they were elected to do to represent their communities and their people and to show strong leadership with integrity and get on with the job. That is what I took from it. As the Minister has said, the Good Friday Agreement is the only game in town. People want parity of esteem and they also want leadership. They want the agreement to stick. There is a whole cohort of people who are totally disillusioned with politics who want people to lead them. That is the message that I took away from the people I spoke to in Belfast.

It is important that we build relationships and we continue our work. The Acting Chairman is on the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly as I am. Just speaking to people, socialising, meeting them, travelling North and South is important.

I conclude by referring to Brexit. I pay tribute to Sinn Féin which produced a very comprehensive paper on it looking at special economic status for Northern Ireland. It produced a paper and that is more than I have seen from most people. It is worth looking at and taking a fresh look. The Minister is committed to it, but there is a strong case for a special economic zone for Northern Ireland.

It is a long process requiring patience. I thank the Minister for his work and acknowledge it in this area.