Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I agree with colleagues' remarks on the legacy legislation and the importance of getting the Assembly back up and running. It is only through dialogue that we can achieve progress.

I echo the concerns of my colleague, Senator Blaney, around the ecological disaster happening at Lough Neagh. This is not just something that impacts on the North; it impacts on the entire island of Ireland. It is critical that the Government takes a strong stance in trying to preserve something of importance to all of us on this island.

A number of colleagues have asked about building forward and where we move, and I am always conscious of that. I was listening to Senator Black’s point about whatever new constitutional arrangement we enter into and about our own identities. The reality is that no matter what constitutional arrangement we have in the near future, on this island of 7.5 million people, there will still be more than 1 million people who will define themselves as British. There will still be about 750,000 people who are neither green nor orange because they have come here from Poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and so many other countries. Part of what we have to do is look at how we can build a common identity - those things we have in common are far more important.

Perhaps in recent weeks, the success of the Irish rugby team – I still regard it as a success even though a bounce of the ball did not get us as far as we wanted to go – built on an identity. It is something that we shared as an island. Listening to the voices of some of the players on that team has been important. It shows that sport, as well as the arts, literature and other things, can bring us together.

I commend the initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs around global Ireland and how it is trying to build that broader identity. It is also about celebrating the diaspora. We are not just an island of 7.5 million people. In our celebration of the diaspora, it is critical to also celebrate the Ulster Protestant diaspora, which has had a global impact around the world. Perhaps sometimes we do not acknowledge that sufficiently in how we mark the impact of Ireland globally.

As many mentioned, the shared island project has been critically important in terms of investment in infrastructure projects and I am particularly happy to see a lot of the investment in high education and research. However, it is more important that we look at supporting engagement between people. As many colleagues said, it is about building trust. I recall at the time of the Good Friday Agreement and my time as a student and a youth activist that there were far more opportunities for engagements between students and young people or those involved in the arts North-South and east-west. I would argue we do not have the same level of engagement between people on the ground. The more that we can support those engagements among civic organisations that people can build trust and understanding, the better. It is critical.

One of the disastrous aspects of Brexit – there were so many – was that on the fringes of some of the EU meetings, there were opportunities for Ministers from Ireland and the UK to meet. It is important that we continue to see politicians at senior level, but including at local authority level, Deputies and Senators, meet on a North-South and east-west basis in as far as possible.

Words matter. We have been marking a number of anniversaries and the peace process is precisely that. It did not just end with the Good Friday Agreement; it is long-running. I note that this week was the 30th anniversary of the Shankill Road bombing, a bomb that was planted without warning. It was particularly concerning that some prominent members of Sinn Féin chose on social medial to commemorate and mark the bomber – the guy who planted the bomb – this week, a time that is particularly sensitive. It would be as if people decided to mark the Ulster Defence Association, UDA, terrorists responsible for the Greysteel massacre, which happened 30 years ago and we need to mark appropriately.We have to always remember the rights and importance of victims in this. It is critical that in building our peace process, we do not forget the victims of what has happened and that they are always central to our discussion. The Government's approach has been positive and the cross-party support for that is to be welcomed but I agree with colleagues that we need to get the Assembly back up and running.