Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the ambassador to the Gallery this morning.When I was a member of Belfast City Council I had the great privilege of travelling to Ljubljana to look at the fantastic and transformative work undertaken to pedestrianise the city to make it much healthier, better connected and prosperous. There are lessons we in Ireland could well and truly learn for our own cities and towns in this regard.

A shared island has to mean a shared Oireachtas. I was dismayed when I read reports in the Irish Newsthis morning that there looks set to be a vote at the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform later this afternoon that would block MLAs and MPs from the North sitting on special Oireachtas committees. I do not understand why these issues and this opposition to the proposal were raised at the very last minute. No party on the committee expressed any concern or objection to the proposal during quite a prolonged period of discussion and engagement. It is deeply unfortunate that Government parties look set to vote against the proposal this afternoon. We see the strength of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement as a result of the addition of MPs from the North. It is of great benefit to Irish life. We must learn the lessons from the pandemic and Brexit that Ireland works best when we work together and work as one, when we are harmonised and pulling together and when we have joined-up approaches and joint aspirations. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement was established by a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, for very good reason. He also gave the now long-standing promise to give MPs from the North speaking rights in the Dáil.

In making this point I feel I am preaching to the choir. The Leader would have a different approach to her colleagues if she were on the committee. Let us look at what special committees do. Autism is an issue that is very important to many of us in the House and we raise it regularly. It is an issue that affects families throughout Ireland. The all-Ireland autism centre is based in Armagh. For special committees that do not vote on legislation, why would we not have elected representatives from the North and the rest of Ireland come to them to contribute?

If the Cathaoirleach votes against this proposal this afternoon, he will vote against the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and, most important of all, he will vote against Article 2 of the Constitution, which I often cite in the Chamber. It states it is the birthright and entitlement of everyone born on the island of Ireland to be part of the Irish nation. Let us give expression to this article in a most modest way this afternoon. I encourage Government members of the committee not to vote against the proposal. I encourage Government colleagues in the House to speak to the committee members. We in the Seanad know the benefits of having all-Ireland representation. For so long the Seanad has had it and it is a greater Oireachtas when it can be national, inclusive and representative.