Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Currie for the initiative behind this motion and her words. She has an insight into the matter that many of us do not have. Some of us do. All of us have connections with Northern Ireland and Britain. The reality is that, over generations, we have been inextricably linked with those parts of these islands, if I can put it in those terms. My own grandfather was from Claudy, County Derry. Everybody on this island has connections with the North. My sister lives in London. She is married to a Welshman. My two nieces are English, although I do not believe my sister would necessarily admit that. We have, for a long time, had an uncomfortable relationship with our nearest neighbour. It is obviously born out of a past that has involved considerable conflict. Senator Currie has outlined some of the most atrocious details of that conflict.

What is really striking is that, after the Good Friday Agreement, we entered a period of relative calm or of good relations with Britain. There was a maturity and grown-upness to that relationship that benefited all of us, on both sides of the Irish Sea and on both sides of the divide between Ireland and Northern Ireland.What is extraordinary about this is it is symptomatic of a complete change in behaviour in the United Kingdom, specifically in Britain. I come from a legal background. I am a barrister and I have mixed feelings towards British rule of law because you can credit Britain with being the birthplace of parliamentary democracy and the establishment of so many human rights and aspects of the rule of law. On the other hand, as a function of an imperial nation there are also terrible atrocities in terms of its rule of law and terrible miscarriages of justice have been perpetrated, usually against people who are not part of the establishment within Britain. That happens in France, Spain and other imperial countries as well. To a large extent, we have been able to rely on Britain as a symbol of the rule of law, as a country that makes good on its international obligations and on its commitment to such things as the Council of Europe and, in its day, to the European Union.

I am glad the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, is here for this debate because he has a connection to the UK, having lived there, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he had considerable responsibility in regard to Brexit and has been intricately involved in it. It seems, however, that the UK, specifically London, has absolutely lost that grasp on the rule of law and respect for international agreements. Today the Tánaiste criticised the UK Government for essentially doing a U-turn on an agreement it made very recently. How can we possibly continue to have good relations or even democratic relations with a country that does not abide by its own agreements and that signs up to an agreement one day and the next day says that when it signed up to it that it did not really mean it and was never going to abide by it? That is no way to interact with the international community. The international community cannot function if countries behave in that way. The same is true in respect of this amnesty.

Of course, in many conflicts there comes a time when an amnesty is an appropriate step. There is a time when lines need to be drawn under conflicts and progress needs to be made in a particular direction. However, when that happens, it happens by consent, with the agreement of the parties to that conflict and in a way that does not let people off the hook. For example, speaking of South Africa, as Senator Currie said, there were other aspects to that which are totally absent from this. When it is described as Pinochet plus, you can see the category that this kind of behaviour is in. I am really worried that this is symptomatic of a disintegration of the rule of law in Britain and the UK and a complete abandonment of the principles it always held dear and quite proudly. It would speak of its honour in regard to international agreements and the rule of law. All of that appears to be evaporating. This amnesty is a further symptom of that.

There is a notion that the establishment in Britain, which is really what we are talking about, the rule in London, can say to the victims on both sides of the conflict that it is drawing a line under this, no matter how unfair or unreasonable it is and no matter how at odds it is with all international and legal opinion, and that it is going to push it through, notwithstanding all those other problems. I do not know how we can relate to or deal with a country like that because it has abandoned the principles it previously held dear and the principles that underpin international agreements and the rule of law. I worry about the future of this island's relationship with its neighbouring island if one party, being London, decides that it is not going to respect those principles anymore. The one thing we know is that when we enjoyed a more mature relationship with the UK it was because we respected each other's views and the importance of parity of esteem between the two sides in any conflict. With that gone, I fear for the future of how we are going to interact and, in any way, resolve the problems that exist in Northern Ireland.