Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and thank him for his comprehensive contribution. I thank my colleagues, Senators McGreehan and Blaney, for their foresight in putting this motion forward on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group. The Good Friday Agreement is, perhaps, the greatest political achievement of any Irish Government since Independence. We in Fianna Fáil are immensely proud of the pivotal part played in its negotiation and realisation by so many of our former leaders and Ministers, but we also know that the agreement is owned by everybody on this island. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to Senator McDowell's contribution to the peace process as a Minister and as Tánaiste.

When we talk about the Good Friday Agreement, we often think of the historic deal reached among the Northern Ireland parties. This is the portion of the document referred to as the multi-party agreement, but the Good Friday Agreement also contains another vital element, an internationally recognised agreement between the two governments, the British-Irish Agreement. The British-Irish Agreement is the bedrock of the political settlement reached in the multi-party talks, as it commits the two governments, as a matter of international law, to implement that settlement. There are no ifs or buts. It demands that both governments work for the full implementation of what was agreed by the parties in the talks, a demand that was endorsed in referendums by overwhelming majorities across the island. The first line of Article 1 of the British-Irish Agreement could not be clearer. It says that both sovereign governments: "recognise the legitimacy of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland with regard to its status". The article goes on to state, "It would be wrong to make any change in the status of Northern Ireland save with the consent of a majority of its people". The wording is important and uncomplicated, "a majority of the people of Northern Ireland".

Consent is at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement. It applies equally and in parallel to both communities. It means that each and every vote matters and that each and every vote counts equally. The late Seamus Mallon, a former Member of this House, said at the 1998 British Labour Party conference that "equality, parity of esteem and parallel consent are written into the agreement. They are the core of the new dispensation which we can and will implement."Simply put, one cannot say to one community that its vote will count for less or that the bar for its aspirations is to be set higher. That approach prevailed in the North for far too long, and was ended by the Good Friday Agreement.

I am not calling for a referendum or a Border poll today or even tomorrow. We know from Brexit the chaos that can be caused by rushing headlong into polls without preparation and planning. However, the recent results of the Scottish Parliament elections show us that the United Kingdom is not looking as cohesive as it was when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. There will be a Border poll at some point, probably, as the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said, within the next seven to ten years, so we must be prepared and ready. That planning should start now. Preparing and planning for a legitimate political aspiration threatens nobody. This is why I welcome the recent papers presented by my party colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and our former Seanad colleague, Deputy Richmond, and the one presented yesterday by the leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Kelly.

Although the agreement was reached just over 23 years ago and has served several fits and starts over the years, we should never lose sight of the fact that the agreement was always about creating a brighter and better future for everybody on the island. As a country, we have benefitted greatly from the agreement with an island at peace. The Good Friday Agreement is about the future, as is the shared island unit, whose aims and work this motion also welcomes and endorses. Even though things can look bleak at times and some in the Executive and the Assembly struggle to come to terms with the consequences of Brexit, the implications of the Northern Ireland protocol and the possible constitutional change in Britain, we must keep sight of the fact that a new future is not only possible, but is increasingly viewed as the best possible outcome for more of the next generation. With the resources of the shared island unit, the strong and essential principles of consent and parity of esteem of the Good Friday Agreement and the political determination to hold this British Government to its solemn commitments, we have an opportunity to build a shared home with a place for all of us, one in which we celebrate the traditions of all our communities and where the free movement of people, goods, services and ideas across Europe is guaranteed.