Seanad debates

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Good Friday Agreement and Windsor Framework: Motion

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paul GavanPaul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. I welcome this debate and the constructive points made on all sides of the Chamber. When I reflect on the Good Friday Agreement, I am always reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela. Although he was, of course, talking about his own country at the time, he very famously said that it is always impossible until it is done. That phrase very much sums up what was achieved through the Good Friday Agreement. Politicians of all parties deserve tremendous credit for an agreement that has transformed our country and politics across our country over the past 25 years. It is a great pity that it looks as though the institutions may not be back up and running for the anniversary. I hope they can be and that the Windsor Framework gives us a platform by which we can get everyone back in the assembly and get the executive up and running, not least because of the great challenges facing people in the North at the moment. Being a proud trade unionist and socialist, I send solidarity to all of the workers engaging in industrial action in the North against Tory austerity at the moment. Everyone from ambulance drivers to teachers, university lecturers and even the folks who are gritting the roads, members of the GMB union, are on strike at the moment and that is in a week when we are expecting heavy snowfall tomorrow. However, they have no choice because of what they are up again, this particularly virulent right-wing Tory Government and the horrendous cutbacks it is implementing.I have full confidence that if Sinn Féin were in the Assembly or Executive, it would play a constructive role in supporting those workers, reaching constructive agreements with them where possible, giving them the decent pay rises they deserve and getting those people back to work. I am proud of Sinn Féin’s record on workers’ rights. We are not just a republican party, we are a party of the left. We are a party that represents the working class, regardless of tradition. That is important to emphasise. We need to see the huge challenges in the North tackled and the best way to do that is through the re-establishment of the Assembly.

Many people have rightly mentioned the constructive and supportive role of the US and European Union, and I want to join with them in that. One other institution has played a key role in recent months and it never gets the recognition it deserves. That is the Council of Europe, which is Europe’s human rights body. Only a few months ago, it produced a fantastic report titled, The Impact of Brexit on Human Rights on the Island of Ireland. It was authored by George Katrougalos, a member of the Greek Parliament. It was debated at length last September in the Council of Europe. It was a clear call on the British Government to heed concerns on prospective policies on the protocol and, not least, the legacy Bill.

I will quote from some of the recommendations in the report. The Parliamentary Assembly calls on the British Government to “ensure that the withdrawal from the European Union does not result in any diminution of rights for the people of [the North], in line with its international commitments, nor to a misalignment of rights between north and south on the island of Ireland”. It also calls on the British Government to “make use of the ‘dedicated mechanism’ established to ensure that Brexit does not result in any diminution of rights set out in the Good Friday Agreement" and to “seek, in a constructive spirit, all practical solutions ... to ensure the smooth and efficient implementation of the protocol”, which had not been resolved at that point. Importantly, it calls on the British Government to “reconsider its current proposal to repeal the ... Human Rights Act and reaffirm its commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights” and “propose a way forward to address the legacy of the Troubles that is in line with the European Convention on Human Rights”.

There are 46 member states in the Council of Europe. The power of this report was that it was endorsed overwhelmingly, by a majority of more than 2:1. It was interesting and disappointing at the time that the British delegates tried to stop the debate taking place. They tried to push to a vote to basically push it back. Thankfully, people of all countries united. They see the importance of the Good Friday Agreement, of progress in our country and getting institutions back up and running. This report makes a clear call on the British Government and politicians across the North to get the Assembly back up and running as well. It was a powerful piece of work. I recognise the work of everyone on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE, delegation, including our colleagues, Senators Joe O’Reilly and Fiona O’Loughlin. The latter spoke strongly on that particular point. This sent a clear message to the British Government that people across Europe will not tolerate messing with the fundamental values of the Good Friday Agreement, with the importance of human rights and, crucially, the importance of the European Court of Human Rights, and the fact that is underpinned in the Good Friday Agreement.

I welcome that we seem to have broad support for this Sinn Féin motion. I also acknowledge Senator Black's point that we need to continue to be on guard against any further attempts to in any way undermine or diminish the Good Friday Agreement. I hope now, in the wake of the Windsor Framework, we will engage in a more positive process with the British Government that will hopefully help see these institutions set up or re-established. Hopefully, that will be the case.

This motion is important, as is the symbolism of all of us agreeing on it. I commend all colleagues. Hopefully, we will have a positive response from the Minister of State.

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