Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise again the case of Emma DeSouza, which I raised consistently in the previous Seanad and will be familiar to many Members of the House. Without going into the complexities of the case, and trying to put it as succinctly as I can, Emma DeSouza was brought to court by the British Home Office for asserting her right under the Good Friday Agreement to identify and be accepted as an Irish citizen for the purposes of ensuring that her husband Jake, a US citizen, could reside with her in their home in Belfast.

We, across this House, have expressed political support for Ms DeSouza. The previous Irish Government, and this one, have been engaged on the case and offered support to Ms DeSouza. We have met the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and a range of representatives of other political parties in the past few months. We did not debate it, but there was cross-party support during the previous Seanad for a motion supporting Emma and Jake DeSouza and, crucially, their campaign. As I have often said, the stand they have taken was for us all. It was a stand for our rights and entitlements as citizens but at its core was the protection of the rights and entitlements afforded to us under the Good Friday Agreement.

Emma DeSouza's case is crucial, particularly in the context of the debate we have been having over the past while and the assault on elements of the Good Friday Agreement by the British Government. It was a stark example of the British Government knowingly failing to implement domestic law and codify in domestic law the rights of citizens in the North to identify and be accepted as Irish citizens.

As a result of Ms DeSouza's court case and her campaign, she is now faced with an initial legal bill of £36,000 for the hearing at the Upper Tribunal. The British Government appealed the Upper Tribunal result, rather cynically, and Emma was burdened with an additional legal cost of £45,000. A woman who manages a café and whose husband is a musician and artist is dealing with costs of £80,000, all in defence of our rights under the Good Friday Agreement.

The Irish Government has taken cases on behalf of citizens of the North in the past, most notably to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of the hooded men. The moneys that Emma and Jake DeSouza are currently raising are coming from online crowd funding.

We need to consider this in the context of the shared island unit and what is happening to the Good Friday Agreement. The previous Leader promised that statements about the shared island unit would be taken in this House in autumn. It is a crucial time for that to happen. Most importantly, if we can agree a cross-party motion supporting Emma and Jake DeSouza, I will engage other groups whose support I hope to have and we can then write to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to see how they can practically help Emma and Jake DeSouza lift some of this burden.