Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank our Sinn Féin colleagues for bringing this motion. It is important to mark the Windsor Framework agreement and the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The Windsor Framework takes place in the context of increasing unrest, particularly among workers, in the North. It is striking that Northern Ireland Housing Executive workers have been in an industrial dispute about pay for nearly six months now. There have been striking workers in the health service and education and, all the while, there is no political leadership in the North. In that context, the Windsor Framework is a very important and welcome breakthrough and will hopefully pave the way to the institutions getting back up and running.

When we look at the past number of years and the uncertainty in the North as we reach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the Windsor Framework could arguably be the last chance saloon for that agreement. Serious questions are now to be asked of particular parties. If they are not willing to make the North work as a political entity, then what? If power-sharing cannot be made to work, then we are back to the drawing board. That is not something any of us would ever like to admit but it has been the direction of travel.

As people have said repeatedly in the House, Brexit is not something the North voted for. It has caused enormous damage and provided a tool to beat both sides with. In some ways, the Windsor Framework is welcome. As has been articulated, we have concerns about the Stormont brake and whether it will, in effect, be used as a veto by one party in terms of progress but that remains to be seen.

Mar fhocal scoir, we ultimately believe there has to be reform of the institutions. If we are to have a durable, sustainable political framework in Northern Ireland, there needs to be reform of the institutions.It is rare for me to agree with Bertie Ahern but I would have to do so in respect of his remarks that the priority is getting the institutions up and running first and then it is time to turn people's minds to reform. There is an appetite to provide greater space for the non-designated parties. There is a lesson there for the two big parties. If there is to be a durable political environment in the North, there must be space for a multi-party system and the rules must be changed accordingly to make that space.