Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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122. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the details of his Department’s new statement of strategy in the context of Northern Ireland and UK-Ireland relations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57040/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Statement of Strategy includes as its first high-level goal the Government’s support to peace and reconciliation at home, which embraces peace and reconciliation on this island and across these islands, as well as the deepening of our bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom.

The Good Friday Agreement is the blueprint for unlocking the full potential of our island and sets out the three strands necessary to do so – the relationship between communities in Northern Ireland, the relationship between North and South, and the relationship between Ireland and Britain.

My Department’s Statement of Strategy sets out how we continue to support the stable and effective operation of the institutions of the Agreement across all strands, including through direct political engagement on issues of mutual concern and through the institutions of the Agreement.

Since the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive in February 2024, we have had over 30 sectoral, plenary and institutional meetings of the NSMC, most recently on 17 October. North South cooperation is strong and growing across multiple areas, driven and facilitated both by the NSMC and the Shared Island initiative.

I want to grow and expand this work, including in my own Department through utilising the increased funding for our Shared Island Civic Society Fund to support new grassroots partnerships across this island, and through expanding our cooperation with the Northern Ireland Executive internationally, through joint trade and cultural initiatives.

My Department also continues to promote reconciliation across all three strands of the Good Friday Agreement, notably through the Reconciliation Fund. I am proud that Budget 2026 includes an increase to the Reconciliation Fund budget. My Department is developing a new Strategy for the Fund for the period 2026-2028. This process has included consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, in particular in Northern Ireland.

The Statement of Strategy commits to deepening the bilateral relationship with the UK, on the basis of the UK-Ireland 2030 Joint Statement. That document was agreed at the UK-Ireland Summit in Liverpool in March this year, the first of what will be annual UK-Ireland Summits. This is a central element of the reset in UK-Ireland relations that I agreed with Prime Minister Starmer at Chequers in July 2024. The Joint Statement sets out an exceptionally wide agenda for cooperation, spanning infrastructure, research and education, security and defence, lesson-sharing from the Northern Ireland peace process, culture, energy, and more. Progress in realising its ambitions cuts across a range of Departments and is overseen by the UK-Ireland 2030 Steering Group, which has now met twice. We look forward to hosting the next Summit in Ireland in 2026.

A central part of the Department's Statement of Strategy focuses on engagement with the UK Government to agree a joint approach on the legacy of the Troubles that is human rights compliant and commands the confidence of survivors, victims, and families. I was proud to publish, alongside Secretary of State Benn, an Joint Framework on the Legacy of the Troubles, at Hillsborough Castle on 19 September. I continue to engage with Secretary of State Benn on the implementation of this landmark document, which I believe will, if faithfully implemented, meet the key tests set out in the Statement of Strategy and finally provide a mechanism for addressing this unfinished business of the Good Friday Agreement.