Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I remember canvassing in a general election of yesteryear and being challenged by an animated and exercised member of the electorate who said that the Green Party was not a Thirty-two County party. When I replied that we were and that we had councillors and MLAs in the North, I was told that we were not a "true" Thirty-two County party. I decided to tell him that he was right, because we were a global organisation. That is not where it ends. Come the counting of the votes, that person who challenged me and delayed me considerably was a tallyman for a particular political party. Which party it was might not surprise Senators.

It is liberating being the Green Party. I cannot comment with authority north of the Border, but the religion of certain people, including my former party leader, has been brought to my attention over the years in the most unusual circumstances. I was not aware of his religion. As a student of history, I took a certain amount of pleasure in the two democratic bastions of Ireland, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, coming together and burying their differences. It was gigantic and something I did not believe I would see in my lifetime. I remember watching the then Taoiseach and current Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, saying on "The Late Late Show" that it would be a great challenge for the Green Party and that, if we wanted to get our green message out to all of rural Ireland, this would be a wonderful moment to bring the two big parties with us, because who better to carry the message for us and take a few bullets for the Green Party along the way? The Green Party voted to go into government.

We talk about the difference between orange and green and the question of how to unite them in peace. Unfortunately, I have seen a different division close up since being elected to the Seanad, that being, the division between green and green, for want of a better term. It is not a policy difference. If we truly want a united Ireland by peaceful means, which I do as a constitutional republican, we will have to get our house in order in the Twenty-six Counties sooner or later. At the moment, it is a divided house. How can we lecture unionists, who are fellow Irish men and women, to coalesce in the North when I sense something that is, at times, little short of extreme dislike in the South? I could have used a stronger term, but let us leave it at that. Sooner or later, there will have to be reconciliation in the South. I am a Border boy and I could talk about the people we lost. I do not want to name anyone in particular in case it does a disservice to the many who fell in that wanton waste of life, but we will eventually have to move on. It will kill us to do so. I understand Senator O'Sullivan's heartfelt concerns about the past, but when I canvassed during this year's general election, there were people who did not remember that wanton waste of life or even the Twin Towers. They had not been born then, yet they would be voting in that election.

For the avoidance of any doubt, I concur with the remarks of the Green Party's Seanad leader, Senator Pauline O'Reilly. Fine Gael has every entitlement to table this motion, but I am concerned about the long-term damage it will cause. We must work better. We must reach out to the other side. John Hume did not have time to help us – he was busy in the Six Counties. He spoke of a country called “Europe” and dealing with commonalities. His message was that, at the end of the day, we were all living in a country called “Europe”.

There were great people like Mr. Austin Currie in the SDLP. They ploughed a lonely furrow at times. They were chased out of certain estates where they were canvassing and were told that they would not be allowed to re-enter, but can we move on from “Brits out, peace in”, please? I used to see that graffiti.

I also used to see another slogan - “Freedom, Justice, Peace”. However, what we are seeing is not really freedom, justice and peace. I heralded the Good Friday Agreement and thank the many politicians who made it happen, but it has not delivered true normality, the word used by Senator O'Sullivan. We should strive for that in our lifetimes. It will ask much of many, but no more than it asked of Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley when they shook hands. Our journey is less painful than what they had to go through. I will not give anyone a free pass, but everyone in the South of Ireland – the proud Republic of Ireland – will sooner or later have to sit down, work towards a better Ireland for everyone and get our house in order so that we can have a truly shared island, one that I hope will some day be united.