Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte is fiche roimh an Comhalta Néill agus an toscaireacht atá linn ó na Stáit Aontaithe. Tá céad míle fáilte rompu go léir. Congressman Neal and his delegation and our other distinguished guests are all very welcome. The great strength of Seanad Éireann is that they will not have to wait until tomorrow to hear a Belfast or Six Counties voice and perspective on the latest events. It is for that reason that I hope Congressman Neal and the Chair will forgive me if I go just a little over time.

For the past 177 years there has been a special relationship between the people of Ireland and the people of the US, especially the Irish diaspora. That special relationship, person to person, family to family, county to county, was forged in the cauldron of an Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger, in the 1840s, a deliberate and cataclysmic consequence of British Government colonial policy. The Famine caused the deaths of 1 million people and the forced exile of another 2 million people. The effect of that was a defining moment in the development of Ireland. It spurred on a century-long population decline, devastated the Irish language and changed the country's demographic, political and cultural landscape. On the banks of the River Liffey, not far from here, there is a raw and emotional depiction of a destitute, starving family on its way to board a coffin ship in search of a new and prosperous life overseas. Denied such a life here, those who left never forgot the land of their birth.

While the image of that family on the banks of the Liffey is one of destitution, there is another story attached to that family. It is a heroic story, emblematic of Ireland's long struggle for nationhood, because those who survived the coffin ships and disembarked in the US became a bedrock on which generations of republicans and nationalists organised at home and in the USA for Ireland's freedom. Without that bedrock of support, the Land League would not have succeeded, the 1916 Rising and the Tan War would not have occurred, this State would not have been established and the republican resistance in the North would not have been sustained. The IRA ceasefire, the loyalist ceasefires, the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, in part, all owe their existence and durability to the direct involvement of the Irish diaspora and successive US presidents and administrations. None of the above would have been achieved without the bipartisan policy of successive administrations, and we thank them all for that support.

Much of the Irish diaspora supported Bill Clinton's election campaign and, in return, he took an active interest in Ireland. Following his election, President Clinton ensured that Gerry Adams and other leading republicans were welcomed into the US. Out of that, an IRA ceasefire took place. There would not have been a peace process without President Bill Clinton's personal involvement and, indeed, that of Congressman Neal. President Clinton appointed Senator George Mitchell to chair the peace talks that successfully led to the Good Friday Agreement. The involvement and presence of US presidents and politicians in the politics of the peace process has been invaluable. It has been a positive counterweight to the oft-times reckless behaviour of the British Government and unionist parties, not least Boris Johnson and the divisive Brexit policy. We have seen the beneficial effects of the bipartisan approach in upholding and defending the Good Friday Agreement. Over the course of Congressman Neal's visit, we have once again heard clearly that there must be no physical border in Ireland and no unilateral action on the part of the British Government in respect of the protocol and that any attempt to undermine the Good Friday Agreement would result in the US Congress not supporting a bilateral free trade agreement with the UK.

The recent elections in the North saw the vast majority of people demanding the re-establishment of the Assembly and the Executive. It also saw the historic election of my colleague, Michelle O'Neill, as the North's First Minister designate and Sinn Féin emerge as the largest party. The amount available to the Executive to spend immediately to support workers and families as the cost-of-living crisis rises has increased to £420 million. People are struggling to put food on the table and to pay their bills. We need urgent action now. Sinn Féin is ready to form an executive right away. The blocking by others needs to stop.

In recent times US representatives have had to remind the British Government to honour its commitments in respect of legacy, truth and justice for the relatives of those killed in the conflict and that amnesties in any form have no place in the peace process. Today, in Belfast, before travelling to the Seanad, I joined families and survivors in protesting the British Government's cruel and unjust legacy Bill, proposals which this Seanad unanimously rejected in a recent vote.

Similar calls have been made with respect to the long-delayed Acht na Gaeilge, an Irish language Act. We saw last Saturday thousands of people, mostly young people, on the streets of Belfast demanding respect for the Irish language in the most colourful, vibrant, inclusive, determined and confident way. Beidh Acht na Gaeilge ann. Tá mé muiníneach faoi sin.

The peace process has helped open up Irish society to other rights-based issues such as the right of Irish citizens living in the US and elsewhere to vote in Irish presidential elections. As a result of the impact of Brexit and the refusal of the British Government and unionist parties to respect the vote of the people of the North who voted to remain in the EU, of whom I was one, there is now a growing debate on and demand for constitutional change leading to a new and united Ireland.Ireland has been transformed from the days when real people shuffled their broken and starved bodies along the banks of the Liffey to board ships for North America. Today's Ireland has a large US footprint where thousands of people are employed in US-owned companies and where peace and hope for the future now reign. This transformation is part of Ireland's new, and yet-to-be written story; one which the US underwrites but one that we will write here in Ireland for the benefit of all of us.