Written answers

Thursday, 28 May 2015

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Ministerial Meetings

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the issues discussed at his recent meeting with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21215/15]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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On 19 May, I met with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers MP, in Dublin. We discussed a range of legacy and political issues. It was an opportunity also for the Secretary of State and me to discuss the current political impasse within the Northern Ireland Executive.

I have remained in close contact with her since then on this matter, as I have also with the Northern Ireland Executive Parties and with US Senator Gary Hart. It is disappointing that a resolution has not yet been found and I urge the Parties to consider the serious consequences of a continued failure to find a way forward. The shared aim of the British and Irish Governments is to support the parties with a view to seeing the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement back on track. Political stasis in Northern Ireland benefits no-one.

On 19 May, I again raised with Secretary of State Villiers the issue of access by an independent international judicial figure to original documents in the possession of the British Government relating to the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. She assured me that she is reflecting on how her Government can respond. I also briefed her on my recent meeting with Justice for the Forgotten on 15 May, on the eve of ceremonies in Dublin to mark the 41st anniversary of the bombings.

We discussed the Pat Finucane case. I made clear that the Irish Government considers there was a political commitment made at the highest level by both Governments at Weston Park in 2001 in relation to the holding of public inquiries in a number of controversial cases and that this commitment remains unfulfilled in the case of Pat Finucane.

I also outlined, as I had in the Seanad on 14 May, the Irish Government’s serious concerns in relation to any proposal to replace the 1998 UK Human Rights Act without taking account of the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. The UK Human Rights Act of 1998 was the means of satisfying the obligation of the British Government arising from the Good Friday Agreement that the European Convention on Human Rights would be incorporated into Northern Ireland law.

The Secretary of State and I discussed and welcomed the then approaching visit of TRH the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to Ireland and Northern Ireland. I believe the visit served as a further contribution to building peace and reconciliation on this island.

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