Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What strikes me about this debate is the unity of purpose across different political parties. I am glad to say that no one is taking the opportunity to be unnecessarily provocative here, and it is always easy to be that way when we talk about Northern Ireland. I thank everybody for their contributions, which I think were thoughtful.

It is true to say that at times in England there are comments that are infuriating for us to listen to. I think it is important to understand that there is sometimes a genuine ignorance about the British-Irish relationship, and comments are sometimes made without understanding of the significance of their meaning. At times in Ireland we simply need to correct the record firmly, but not take deep offence to some of what is genuine ignorance. I think Irish people's understanding of Britain is much deeper than many British people's understanding of Ireland, if we are honest about it. I say that as someone who lived in England for over three years and worked in Scotland. When we grow up, our history lessons in Irish schools are dominated by Ireland's relationship with Britain. In England in particular, but also in other parts of Britain, education is certainly not dominated by Britain's relationship with Ireland. That being said, that is all the more reason for clarity from Ireland on the significance and importance of the Good Friday Agreement 20 years ago and the importance of that Agreement today.

Let us not forget a number of things. This is the people's agreement. This is not owned by Governments. There is no mandate for any Government, British or Irish, to change the Good Friday Agreement. This is a treaty registered with the United Nations. It is an intergovernmental agreement. It is a party agreement also, and I was delighted to see the DUP represented at the highest level in Queen's University last week. That is a recognition that they also recognise the importance and significance of the Good Friday Agreement, despite the fact that they did not support it 20 years ago. Of course, it is most importantly an agreement that was endorsed by a huge majority North and South. As such, nobody has the right to undermine, change or amend the Good Friday Agreement without a process that deals with the significance of the mandate that the people have given for the implementation of this Agreement. I say that very clearly 20 years later, now that I have a responsibility on behalf of the Irish Government to ensure that we on this island provide clarity on the significance of this Agreement, why it is so significant and important today, and why it has so many of the solutions for the challenges that we need to overcome today.

In the Good Friday Agreement there are many mechanisms that are not being used today, mechanisms that if triggered, implemented and used in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement can help us overcome many issues. They can put structures in place around east-west relationships between Britain and Ireland post-Brexit, to ensure that we as neighbouring islands continue to live together in a way that actually improves the quality of life in both countries and on both islands.

In regard to the challenges we face today, the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive is perhaps the most important issue that we need to try to overcome. Without that, some of the broader reconciliation issues are very difficult to deliver on. However, I would hope that even in the absence of the re-establishment of the Executive, we see some of the new legacy structures that were agreed in the Stormont House Agreement brought forward, along with the public consultation process that has been promised and new legacy structures.I hope that, even in the absence of the re-establishment of the executive, we would see the bringing forward of the new legacy structures agreed in the Stormont House Agreement and the promised public consultation process on them. I hope we will see these progress sooner rather than later. I supported that position several months ago. Then we wanted the re-establishment of an executive and the bringing forward of a legacy consultation at the same time because we felt they would be mutually reinforcing. We felt it would help create a new positive momentum in Northern Ireland where political leaders could show the way of working together and communities could start to show the way in understanding each other's pain in the context of memories, history and legacy.

We have much to do. This generation needs to show the appetite for risk. This generation of politicians must also show it has the appetite to actually take decisions that make themselves and the communities they represent uncomfortable. They must show the leadership to be willing to do that in order to move the process forward for the betterment of everybody. I say that to nationalists, as well as to unionists. When one thinks of what was overcome 20 years ago, the challenges we face today are not so large. This is about trust and respect for each other and for each other's communities.

Twenty years after that trust and respect delivered an extraordinary new opportunity for Northern Ireland, for the island of Ireland and the relationship between Britain and Ireland, which was transformed as a result, along with EU membership, we need that kind of spirit again. That is why I have focused all of my speeches over the past ten days on these themes of remembering why this is so important and of renewing the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement to try to instil the leadership needed today from politicians and community leaders. I have also focused on what the peace process, ultimately, needs to lead to, namely, reconciliation on the island of Ireland which will contribute to a quality of life in a way which, unfortunately, generations which have come before us could not have even dreamed of.

I thank the Seanad for the opportunity to discuss these matters.