Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)

I very much welcome the tone of the debate here tonight so far. It has been quite constructive. It is very important because this issue is too important not to be constructive on at this stage. I think this should be our objective across the floor of the House. It is a fundamental objective of Fianna Fáil to secure, in peace and harmony, the unity of Ireland and all its people, including those who have chosen to make Ireland their home, harnessing the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement and building consensus around a shared island.

Peace, reconciliation and unity by consent are core values for Fianna Fáil. We are proud of our record in achieving an unmatched series of historic breakthroughs. In recent decades, our party created the conditions for the ceasefires and showed incredible leadership in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement and securing its ratification. We are committed to harnessing the agreement’s full potential to work together across all communities for a shared and reconciled future. We welcome this debate and we will not be opposing the motion.

Everyone on the island has the right to make the case for the constitutional future they wish to see, whether nationalist, unionist or neither.The approach of the Irish Government in relation to unity is guided by Article 3 of the Constitution, as amended by the people in 1998 to incorporate the framework set out in the Good Friday Agreement. As the programme for Government states, we are "committed to the unity of the Irish people and [believe] that this can ... be achieved through a sustained focus on and investment in reconciliation". We all need to spend some time reflecting on the part of that sentence which got us to the Good Friday Agreement, which was "reconciliation". Fianna Fáil has been very clear. We are determined to use Government to move reconciliation on this island from being empty words to being a defining element of what Government does. I believe that more plans, following on from the work of the shared island unit and the different projects that were put in place, will now move forward as well. I back the request to Government to do so.

Looking back over the past ten years or so, one might get frustrated with the strides that have been made. Brexit certainly did not help our goals in relation to sharing this island or unity. Stormont, up and down, did not help our strides for Irish unity. We all have a job to do. As politicians on the north and south of the island, we all have work to do. That sentiment of the Good Friday Agreement is something we do not reflect on enough. It is about building reconciliation and trust. It is also about building respect. It is about the next generations. We all could do more.

I have been constantly raising the issue of the building of the A5, which probably affects the North more than most in the South. It affects us in Donegal particularly badly. We could have had that built back in 2016 when Senator Conor Murphy was at the helm and Stormont was brought down. We are now back again, we are providing funding to build it. We all need to work together to deliver this project. We cannot have any more obstruction. That is about bringing all the island together. It is about making sure that everywhere on the island has the same chances as everywhere else. It is important that the project gets over the line in a few weeks' time. It is about everybody pulling their weight and putting their shoulders to the wheel. We cannot afford for that project to be opposed any further. It must move forward.

I listened to last night's debate in the Lower House about defective concrete blocks. I listened to some of Senator Murphy's colleagues, such as Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn. They were jumping up and down about a scheme that is now in place. We stood by to ensure we got the changes that were needed. They were jumping up and down and saying that the scheme has done no good. The people in Derry and Tyrone do not have a penny for their houses with mica or defective concrete blocks. We all have a job to do. We have stood in these Chambers, taken the flack, made the changes and delivered a scheme. Who is advocating for the people in Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone? I do not know if there are also problems in Armagh but I know there are in the three counties I have mentioned because I have seen it. Who is advocating for the people there? If we want to share the island and we want to be all-island parties, it is time we all had an honest conversation with ourselves.

I think of people such as Paul Quinn. When I think of the disappeared, I think we all still have work to do. We all have to step up to the plate to do our piece because not all questions are being answered. We all have work to do. We all need to work together more. As I said, I welcome this tone tonight. Let us start working together. Let us not start applying deadlines.

In terms of the legacy, we had a good dinner with the British ambassador. We had a good discussion. It is right that we do not conflate the legacy issues that we are now dealing with and this question. If we deal with legacy in the proper manner, we can help to build more trust. By building more trust, you gain respect. All that works to Irish unity. Putting dates ahead of us is not helpful. I welcome the motion and the opportunity to speak on it.