Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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286. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the legal and constitutional obligations that the Government has under the Good Friday Agreement in relation to Northern Ireland and the Border; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39360/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Good Friday Agreement is the foundation of the peace process and provides the detailed framework for all of the Government’s engagement in relation to Northern Ireland. The full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements is a priority for the Government.

Following a referendum in 1998, the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution was approved, thereby endorsing the Good Friday Agreement. This allowed for the amendment of Articles 2 and 3 and the insertion of Article 29.7 of the Constitution. Article 2 refers to the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland (including its islands and seas) to be part of the Irish nation while Article 3 sets out the principle of consent and the possibility of constitutional change, and refers to the institutions with executive powers and functions on the island. Article 29.7.2 allowed the State to be bound by the British-Irish Agreement and provided that any institution established by or under the Agreement may exercise the powers and functions conferred on it in respect of all or any part of the island of Ireland.

In relation to the border, the Good Friday Agreement includes an obligation on the British Government to return to normal security arrangements in Northern Ireland, including the removal of security installations that were predominantly along the border. As the most obvious symbol of the peace process, the invisible border on the island of Ireland is essential to people’s lives and livelihoods and to the continuing normalisation of relationships that is a fundamental part of the peace process founded on the Good Friday Agreement.

As a co-guarantor of the Agreement, the Government will therefore continue to emphasise and pursue Ireland’s objective of protecting the gains of the peace process and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.