Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Deputy Leader back in the hot seat; it suits her.

I want to begin like my colleague Senator Chambers by commenting on the decision by the British Government to legislate to break the law. It is unilaterally legislating to amend aspects of the agreed protocol, a protocol that it negotiated and signed up to and that its Parliament endorsed. We were told that this was an oven-ready deal, that it was about getting Brexit done and that, in fact, Brexit was done. However, it is now increasingly apparent, even to anyone who was not paying attention, that this is actually about giving cover to the DUP, which spurned every compromise and deal put before it, pushes even yet for the hardest and most disastrous form of Brexit and has refused to re-enter the Stormont institutions and adhere to the will of the people in the North, who just two weeks ago expressed very clearly what they want. The people want parties around the Executive table and in the Assembly Chamber working for them to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, the problems in the health service and the issues that matter.

It is encouraging that we have colleagues and friends here from the United States because we need to mobilise international attention on this in the first instance. We have received a lot of solidarity and goodwill, as the Deputy Leader knows, but we are now in quite a serious predicament owing to what the British Government is seeking to do following its announcement today. The announcement from Ms Liz Truss this afternoon on the protocol follows on from the announcement this morning that the British Government is to plough ahead with its introduction of an amnesty for British state forces, who are responsible for countless atrocities here in Ireland, North and South. That should give us cause for deep concern, not least considering that, just a few months ago, this Seanad unanimously rejected the amnesty proposals. It is important, therefore, that we have the opportunity to hear from the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the British Government's announcement today and the measures the Irish Government will take internationally to respond to it, given that it is a breach and a disregarding and walking away from the Stormont House Agreement, which we all signed up to and want to see implemented. Although that agreement is an imperfect measure, it is one that we all agreed could be the beginning of a process to deal with the issues of legacy and victims.