Written answers

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Northern Ireland Issues

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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387. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views regarding the increased violence in Northern Ireland and comments made (details supplied) regarding these events not being a positive development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19146/15]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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There have been a number of security incidents in Northern Ireland in recent weeks that have put lives at risk. A man was murdered while his neighbours were going to work and to school. There were a number of bomb attacks in the Derry area and a device left in Ardoyne saw the public unable to attend mass in the Holy Cross monastery for the only time since its foundation in 1869.

I am conscious there were also a number of attacks and threats against elected representatives in Northern Ireland, including the deputy First Minister. Such acts are reprehensible at any time, but were particularly sinister in the context of the UK general election campaign.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland, whose officers may possibly have been a target, is investigating recent events. I support the PSNI in its work and encourage anyone with information on the attacks to bring it to the police.

There can be no justification for recourse to violence, which is an affront to the expressed will of the people of this island to build a reconciled and prosperous society true to the vision of the Good Friday Agreement.

I will continue to engage with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and with the Executive parties in our shared endeavour to move Northern Ireland forward. I stay in close and regular contact with Senator Hart, including this week. He has made a very valuable contribution to the negotiations of the Stormont House Agreement and to our collective efforts to ensure its full and faithful implementation.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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388. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19153/15]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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We are now entering an important point in the implementation process of the Stormont House Agreement. A number of target dates over a range of the areas included in the Agreement will arise in the weeks ahead. To achieve these will require a concerted effort and an intensive political investment from the Northern Ireland Executive and from both Governments.

It is important to recall how far we have come already in terms of the collective achievement of getting the Stormont House Agreement over the line in December and the progress made since then in implementing it. Since the start of the year, the two Governments and the NI Executive Parties have held two comprehensive formal review meetings. In February, a report on new priorities for North/South cooperation was agreed at a North South Ministerial Council meeting in Belfast. Officials from Dublin, London and Belfast are preparing the groundwork for legislation to establish the new institutions for dealing with the past; and the Northern Ireland Party Leaders continue to meet regularly to take forward work across the broad areas of responsibility they undertook in Stormont House.

It is disappointing that difficulties have recently arisen around the welfare element of the Stormont House Agreement. The Government is committed to the implementation of the totality of the provisions of the Agreement and it is important to ensure that the developments around the welfare issue do not have a corrosive impact on the wider implementation of the Agreement.

Now that the Westminster elections are over and a new UK Government is in place, there is an opportunity and obligation to refocus our efforts to implement the next phases of the Agreement. I spoke with each of the NI Executive Party leaders in recent days and set out the Irish Government’s views in this regard. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that politics delivers and to create a way forward on issues that have been a source of difficulty for far too long.

I will also discuss these issues with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when I meet her later today, following on from our constructive telephone conversation last week. There are challenges ahead, not least on the issue of welfare, but I am confident that working together in good faith the parties in the Executive can deliver the solutions that the people of Northern Ireland expect and deserve.

The next implementation and review meeting will take place in late June, when a six-month progress report will also be published by the two Governments. I will continue to keep this House informed of progress.

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