Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste is welcome. I welcome any opportunity to talk about the importance of the Good Friday Agreement. I thank Senators McGreehan and Blaney for using their Private Members' time to table the motion. I know how passionate they are about the issue. I commend my colleague, Senator Currie, on her phenomenal work fighting against the legacy Bill and her strong passion and empathy for the families impacted by the legacy Bill.

The Good Friday Agreement was a triumph of peacemaking and diplomacy and held real political and personal risk for the parties involved. It required the participants of the negotiations to do phenomenally hard work in collaborating with those of radically different viewpoints in a respectful and productive manner. There are important lessons to be learned from a process that can contribute to our understanding of how to make a modern, inclusive and pluralistic society work.

The agreement provided us with many things. The first and most obvious dividend was peace. The end of the conflict was a relief to everyone on this island but was felt most acutely in the areas that had suffered most. The end of the conflict allowed for a process of repair and redemption that is vital to making Northern Ireland work. It allowed for greater economic development, social integration and social change. In our attempt to praise the peace, we must not forget how much work is left to do. Unfortunately, the North of Ireland is far behind the South in the context of economic productivity. It has higher levels of poverty and chronic ill-health. The resistance to school integration and modest Irish language proposals, as well as the recent bomb threats at the East Belfast GAA club, are a staggering reminded that exclusionary supremacy ideology has not gone away.

We must also recognise the elements of the Good Friday Agreement that are not functioning. The agreement contains a provision for the creation of a bill of rights. Tragically, this has never been implemented. A strong, legally enforceable human rights framework is a vital component of a functioning society. I would love to see more political capital expended on working for this element of the agreement to bear fruit.

Another crucial element of the agreement is the provision of a democratic, peaceful path towards constitutional change on the island. We have to face that a border poll is an increasingly likely prospect in the coming years and would provide a way for Northern Ireland, which was taken out of the EU against its will, to rejoin, as well as create opportunities for social and economic development across the island.

As chair of Ireland's Future, I have seen the hunger and longing that communities have for open, respectful and informed discussions about potential constitutional futures. These conversations are enriched by the great work being done by academics working in the Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South, ARINS, project, among many others, and by the work the Tánaiste and shared island unit have undertaken. It is fantastic work. There is also the work of the Good Friday implementation committee and other State bodies. However, there is still much to do and planning and preparing for potential constitutional change is vital.

The motion rightly centres the importance of remembering the victims of the conflict. It is vital that we remember all those lost and the impact of their loss on families and communities deprived of their loved ones. Unfortunately, the British Government is creating great anxiety and pain among those families and communities with its legacy proposals. The British Government's legacy Bill provides de factoamnesty for people who committed brutal crimes across this island, sometimes with state collusion. This legislation has been rejected by every political party, North and South, as grievously insulting and clearly impermissible under Article 2 of the ECHR, which mandates states to effectively investigate suspicious deaths. I hope the unanimity of the opposition to this Bill convinces the British Government to step back from this ledge, but I do not have much hope on that. The British Government seems to be in the thrall of its most radical right-wing elements, which is extremely worrying. This crude attempt to whitewash history and impose impunity has no place in a democracy. It reflects a broader authoritarian rift in British politics. That should concern us all. We must resist it by any means, including interstate litigation at the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary. We owe it to the families of these victims to fight for their rights to access justice.

The Good Friday Agreement has provided us with precarious peace and badly needed social and economic development. It also provides us with the opportunity to protect human rights and improve North-South co-operation and with a democratic path for reunification. We need to pursue all of those goals wholeheartedly in order to create a peaceful, prosperous and dignified life for everyone on this island. Again, I thank Senators Blaney and McGreehan for using their Private Members' time to highlight this very important issue.