Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also offer my sympathies and condolences to the family of Councillor Collins.

As someone whose life, personal and political, has been defined by the values, the ambition and the achievement of the Good Friday Agreement, I cannot stand by and let the British Government and the DUP misappropriate it. For the British Government to claim its motivation for the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is to protect the Good Friday Agreement is deplorable. It has twisted the Good Friday Agreement and the achievements of our collective peace process to suit its own selfish party-political needs, the antithesis of what the agreement is about, which is partnership and compromise.

The British Foreign Secretary, Ms Truss, has said the EU does not understand the unique context of Northern Ireland or the principle of consent even though the majority of people in Northern Ireland rejected Brexit. The majority of MLAs who reject this legislation are pro-protocol, pro-power sharing and understand when people destabilise the Good Friday Agreement, dialogue brings stability back. The British Government is jeopardising Northern Ireland's economic progress and the stability it desperately needs as does everyone on this island. The British Foreign Secretary said the people in Northern Ireland will not be treated differently from those in the rest of the UK anymore.Does that mean they will not have that effective dual access, which has helped Northern Ireland weather the post-Brexit realities and the soaring cost of living better than anywhere else in the UK, and increased interest in inward investment? She says this Bill will protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland. In recent months the British Government has talked up an imminent threat to peace but there have been no mass movement protests despite the best efforts of a minority of a minority. MI5 has reduced the security terrorism threat level from severe to substantial. The Good Friday Agreement always sought to bring stability, partnership and shared opportunities and to alleviate suffering in Northern Ireland. Where are those priorities now? When it comes to breaking international law, the British Government states that the doctrine of necessity provides a clear basis to justify the non-performance of international obligations based on the strain on Northern Ireland's institutions and sociopolitical conditions. Those conditions have not been met. The DUP is fuelling this nonsense. Shame on the DUP and shame on the British Government.