Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In some institutions on an occasion like this, two motions are proposed. One is motion of thanks to the speaker for his address and the second is that the paper should be printed and circulated. I theoretically propose both of those motions.

The account you have given is one that I have not heard in detail before. I am very glad that you have had the opportunity to put on the record the exact circumstances as you saw them at the time leading up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Some 25 years have elapsed since then. When you were sitting down in Stormont with the participants then, 25 years had also elapsed since the 1974 Sunningdale Agreement. One of those ended in failure, really, and the other ended in success.

You have signalled to me that I should be discreet, and I will be because there are 20-year rules and 40-year rules, but I want everybody in this House to know two important facts. Ireland and Britain are extremely lucky that two men came into office at a crucial time who trusted each other, who were friendly to each other and above all, who were friendly to the interests of both of these islands and could see the future. We were very lucky indeed. You have very humbly acknowledged the role of many people, and other people's names occur to me but I do not think it is fair to try to enumerate them here today. However, I will say this: in all the time between when I became Attorney General in the summer of 1999, a year after the Good Friday Agreement, and when I ceased to be Tánaiste in 2007, you honoured me and trusted me to participate with you in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.It was in that capacity that I saw the considerable effort Mr. Ahern put into making sure the agreement was not like the Sunningdale Agreement, which perished on the paper, but instead became a reality. Nobody should forget that implementation of the Good Friday Agreement was not an easy thing. Even to this day, half the time since 1998 has been spent without an operational Executive in Northern Ireland. There have been difficulties from decommissioning to criminality and policing, but Mr. Ahern persisted from the 1998 agreement to the St. Andrews Agreement in 2007, which I can say was close-run without divulging any other secrets. Mr. Ahern and I saw how close-run many of these discussions were and how difficult it was to bring about implementation of the agreement. I agree with Senator Currie and Mr. Ahern that the challenge is to make these institutions work. There is no reason they should not work. They are not perfect and different architectures could be suggested. However, I agree with Mr. Ahern's recent remarks that this is not the time to re-engineer the architecture of Northern Ireland. This is the time, imperfect though it may be, to get it up and running.

The post-Brexit situation that has arisen, including the situation in British politics, marks a move towards a more positive and better outlook for the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement. This includes the full establishment of a relationship and genuine partnership between the two communities in Northern Ireland, which are numerically imbalanced, and a chance to grasp the opportunity of membership of the Single Market and access to the UK market. Such an opportunity puts the people of Northern Ireland collectively in a position which nobody else in this region of the world is in. They have an opportunity which Mr. Ahern created for them by the groundwork he did in 1998, as he described here today.

However, what he has not described is the incredible work that he and Mr. Blair did, which I was privileged to see. Such work was done at meeting after meeting at Weston Park, Leeds Castle, Hillsborough Castle and Downing Street. A huge amount of work was put in to making the Good Friday Agreement a success. It could not have succeeded if Mr. Ahern had not thrown his commitment into that phase of the implementation, just as much as the initial signing of the agreement. I am deeply grateful to him. I will refer to two occasions. First, we both had to endure Jamie Oliver's squid in ink for lunch one day in Downing Street, which I think was a bit of a trial for both of us. The second was a very interesting breakfast in Mr. Blair's room in the St. Andrews centre in 2007.

This House and the Irish people owe Mr. Ahern an immense debt of gratitude. I hope this is recognised by the Irish people and that Mr. Ahern's sterling address is appreciated for what it is, that is, the honest and humble reflection of a person who did this nation a great service.