Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Statements

The Taoiseach

This month marks 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement was concluded. Life on this island has been transformed over the past 25 years as a result of the agreement and the leadership, vision and capacity for compromise shown by those who made it possible at the time. On this anniversary, we recognise how far we have come in the quarter of a century since 10 April 1998, followed by the historic referendum afterwards, North and South.

For my part, I am of the view that the three principal achievements of the agreement were the acceptance on all sides that politics should only be pursued through peaceful means, the principle of democratic consent regarding the constitutional future being enshrined and parity of esteem for all communities. As we know, this has allowed people to identify as Irish or British, both or neither and be accepted as such. In time, I think allowing people to escape from binary identities will be the greatest and longest-lasting gift of the Good Friday Agreement.

The idea of celebrating peace while keeping a focus on the future permeated the recent visit of President Biden. At every opportunity during his trip, he reaffirmed ongoing US commitment to Northern Ireland and to Ireland as a whole. For more than three decades, the US has been a consistent champion of peace and prosperity on the island of Ireland. That support continues to be solid across the political spectrum in the US. The welcome appointment of Joe Kennedy III as special economic envoy demonstrates that this commitment remains steadfast. Our international partners at the highest levels remain deeply invested and engaged in the continued success of the Good Friday Agreement. It was noteworthy that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, travelled to Belfast last week, where they were joined by Prime Minister Sunak, former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, among others.

Peace cannot be understood without acknowledging the role of the most successful peace project of all, the European Union. As the Windsor Framework is implemented, it is important to acknowledge the ways in which our EU partners have prioritised and continue to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement. The Windsor Framework provides a new opportunity for relationships on these islands and an improved British-Irish partnership. Although there are issues on which we disagree, this 25th anniversary is a timely reminder of our shared responsibility as co-guarantors of the agreement. The agreement is fundamentally about both Governments working in partnership. I look forward to continuing that work with the Prime Minister and advancing our shared priorities. The agreement is built on delicate balances, which we must ensure continue to be respected in the months and years ahead.

Northern Ireland cannot move forward without a functioning assembly and Executive, and effective, practical North-South co-operation requires a functioning North-South Ministerial Council. That was the clear message last week at Queen's University. As John Bruton said, if a political vacuum is not filled by elected politicians, it leaves space for those with undemocratic and violent agendas. We all have a responsibility to make sure that does not happen.

The people of Northern Ireland face challenges in many areas, including housing, the health service, the cost of living, jobs and enterprise and the budget deficit. Almost all the problems we face here are faced in Northern Ireland too, and often they are much worse. Through the shared island fund, we stand ready to help with some of those challenges, should an Executive be established. Local leadership by those chosen by the people of Northern Ireland is required to respond to those challenges. I hope we see all parties stepping up to assume their responsibilities as early as possible.

The stop-start operation of the Northern Ireland Executive in recent years has prompted some to question whether the time has come for reform of the way in which the institutions operate. Review and reform are provided for in the agreement, and there must always be space for us to have those conversations. I am absolutely clear, however, that those discussions are best placed to succeed when the power-sharing institutions are operational and there is some measure of stability and shared responsibility. Let us therefore get the institutions up and running and working for the people of Northern Ireland now.

As we mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, we remember the sacrifices and the ground-breaking political leadership shown by those who signed it. Let us remember what they had to overcome: the scale of differences and distrust they had to bridge and the difficulties they had in leading their own parties and their own communities with them. Let us take inspiration from their leadership and get beyond the lesser challenges of today.

The Good Friday Agreement put an end to physical conflict, but violence leaves a long shadow. As President Biden said in Belfast: "Every person killed in the Troubles left an empty chair at that dining-room table and a hole in the heart that was never filled for the ones they lost." As we mark 25 years of peace, we must also remember those who lost their lives during the Troubles, as well as the survivors, the family members and the communities who suffer from this legacy still.

In celebrating the achievements of the agreement, we also remember why it was necessary, and we must remind ourselves that peace and democracy are not things we should ever take for granted. The agreement sets out a vision for the future based on cross-community connections. We who currently hold the responsibility of political leadership have an obligation to play our part in safeguarding the future of the agreement by continuing to build connections among communities. We owe it to those who came before us and who made peace possible, we owe it to those born since 1998 and we owe it to those generations yet to come. The Good Friday Agreement, or Belfast Agreement, gave us the blueprint for a functioning, shared society to be built in place of a failed, fractured one. I also look forward to better and more integrated co-operation across our island and on those areas of mutual interest and mutual benefit. Most of all, however, I look forward to a sustained economic future for our young people and to reconciliation. It is for leaders North and South and east and west to take up their responsibilities and to make securing that peace and deepening reconciliation part of the background to everything we do. We will continue to engage with all communities and traditions to build a vision of our shared future, in an inclusive, constructive approach, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Deputy Micheál Martin)

The Good Friday Agreement is an achievement which the people of this island have every right to be proud of. It was a triumph for constitutionalism, for dialogue and for setting out a new vision for our future. It involved acts of great generosity and bravery, particularly from those who had always believed in and practised the values of peace, democracy and anti-sectarianism.

In recent weeks there have been many occasions to retell the events of 25 years ago and to reflect on the tremendous hurdles that were overcome. The truly remarkable examples of political leadership that made it possible remain an example to us all. In Belfast last week, at our celebration in the Abbey Theatre and at other events, we have had an opportunity to honour all those who made a critical contribution. We talked about the deep co-operation of the two Governments and the support they received from leaders in Washington and Brussels. Of course, we also paid tribute to those who are no longer with us and were so important in securing the agreement.

The leaders of the two largest parties in Northern Ireland at the time, John Hume and David Trimble, left us recently, but their personal bravery in charting a way to politics for others has earned them a lasting place of honour in our history. For nationalist Ireland, John Hume will always remain one of our greatest and most inspiring leaders. At the very foundation of the process which led to the agreement was his success in persuading first Dublin and then London to set out a blueprint for inclusive talks that could end the terrible violence. The incredibly close working relationships of, first, Albert Reynolds and John Major and, then, Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair showed democratic politics and leadership at its best. Their commitment to overcoming historic barriers to progress on this island was relentless, and without it almost nothing could have been achieved.

In all the events remembering 1998, two consistent themes emerged. The first was the resilience of the people of Northern Ireland, which both endured a terrible conflict and never lost faith in finding a democratic way forward. The second was that we must work to renew the spirit of the agreement and understand that we have much more work to do. The agreement was, to use the wonderful words of Seamus Mallon, a new dispensation for this island. It was not a final destination. Unfortunately, far too often that has been lost sight of, and the great potential to deliver sustained progress for the people of Northern Ireland has too often been missed. The spirit of partisanship and the ongoing cycle of collapse and restoration caused by various parties have often undermined public faith and have blocked urgently needed work on social and economic issues.

The genius of the agreement, as ratified by the Irish people in free referendums, is that it provides a basis for respecting different constitutional objectives while working to prevent them from defining every issue. The principle of consent is the core DNA of the agreement, and it is a challenge to everyone to move beyond peace and to work actively for reconciliation. I welcome in particular last week's clear statement on the principle of consent in the Good Friday Agreement by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris. Everyone in this House understands the principle of consent, and the delicate balance inherent in it. Using the instability created by Brexit, some voices have sought to amend or to undermine it. Speaking at Queen's University in Belfast, however, describing the principle of consent as "an important and hard won guarantee", the Secretary of State made clear that those voices will not succeed.

As President Biden so passionately said, "Peace was not inevitable. We can't ever forget that; there was nothing inevitable about it." Peace is not inevitable. It requires hard work. It also requires ongoing commitment. The current absence of a functioning Executive and assembly is having a very real impact on the people of Northern Ireland. It is vital that all parties respect the decisions made by the people of Northern Ireland last May and allow the democratically elected representatives to take their seats. We have seen in recent weeks challenges arise which affect some of Northern Ireland's most vulnerable. At such difficult times, the people of Northern Ireland need and deserve effective local leadership. Just as those who blocked the assembly and the Executive in the past were wrong, the same applies today. Parliaments are established and perform core functions after elections. That is a core democratic principle and it needs to be respected.

Once the results of the latest assembly elections are respected, we then need to discuss reforming the mechanisms applied in the future. Reform is clearly necessary. We have to address the workings of the institutions and how many voices are marginalised and key information withheld. We have to address the refusal of parties to allow the civic forum to be established, for example. We also need to overcome the barriers to the effective workings of the ministerial councils and the all-island bodies.

The principle of consent, and the good faith which the Irish Government has shown in respecting agreements, means that no one has anything to fear from these bodies. It is quite the opposite. When allowed to work to a constructive agenda, they have delivered real benefits to communities in terms of public health, tourism, trade promotion, language support and other areas. The Nordic Council, for example, has shown how, for decades, countries can share tasks without infringing on each other's identity or sovereignty.

The Good Friday Agreement speaks of the necessity of acknowledging the suffering of victims. Too little has been done on this, and too many are focused only on their own victims. When parties are capable of showing a real concern for the victims of those they honour, then and only then will we have made a true breakthrough towards reconciliation. As I said before, the British Government's legacy Bill, which would benefit many different groups, is a unilateral and unacceptable departure from the collective approach we have agreed to. We have made clear to the British Government, at all levels and at every opportunity, that we do not believe its legacy Bill to be fit for purpose. If enacted, it will set back the essential work of reconciliation. We in this Chamber have responsibilities to the victims of the Troubles, North and South, to do everything possible to ensure their access to justice and to information.

To have a real chance at a new Ireland, to have a real chance to live up to the aspirations of our constitution "to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions", we have to make an effort to create an Ireland in which everyone feels welcome. This is not the work of other people; it is the work of each of us. Nothing will be achieved by an often toxic public sphere which focuses on finding ways to define and dismiss others. We must, however, reach out beyond our comfort zones, we must face down the aggression of the keyboard warriors, if we are to bring about true reconciliation on this island. This is what lies at the heart of the shared island initiative. It is about harnessing the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement. It offers a way of building genuine understanding between communities - and an investment plan for building connections which goes far beyond anything ever before envisaged.

Research already undertaken on education, to take just one example of the work that has been done through the shared island initiative, has shown differences and challenges on both sides of the Border. It has reinforced the urgent need to be far more ambitious in tackling early school leaving and the social and economic benefits which this would bring. If we are to embrace the "opportunity for a new beginning" promised in the agreement, then all young people on this island need to have the capacity to build a prosperous future.

A brighter future is what the architects of the peace process were reaching for in 1998. We have made great strides since then, but still have a distance to go to realise their vision of a truly reconciled and peaceful island where all communities and individuals can look to the future with hope. To achieve this, we must work together. Some 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement was reached, I assure the House that the Government remains absolutely committed to realising this vision.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

This month marks - I apologise, I was about to read the Tánaiste's speech back to him. Gabh mo leithscéal. That would have been quite a turn.

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd

The master's voice.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

A new coalition.

Deputy Micheál Martin

It is so good that the Deputy is tempted to do so.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

In fact, it was the Taoiseach's speech I was about to read; it was not actually the Tánaiste's speech. Some 25 years ago, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement transcended the past and changed the future for us all. After more than three decades of a terrible conflict, the agreement delivered a peace that had looked impossible. It ushered in a new era of hope, opportunity and progress for an entire generation and utterly transformed Ireland for the better. The Good Friday Agreement is a gift from a generation of courageous peacemakers to this generation. It is one that we must protect and advance.

In the spring of 1998, political and community leaders from all sides overcame bitter division. They met the test of leadership to make things better for our children. Twenty-five years on, we are again challenged with this very test, to again reach out the hand of friendship, trust, and partnership. The challenge that has now crystallised for all of us today is how to recreate the spirit of 1998. We need a renewed commitment from all political leaders that we will work together, that we will share power together and that we will have a government that will work in the interests of everyone.

We need to restore the agreement’s political institutions in the North. Almost a year on from the assembly election, we need a functioning government, we need the North-South bodies up and running, and we need the east-west relationship back on a sustainable footing. Critical to this goal is a consistent and deeper interest from both Irish and British Governments, something which has slipped in recent years, and we need to reset all of that. Above all, we need a decision from the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP. The DUP is now at a crossroads and a moment of decision. I hope that the decision they make is the right one because it is unconscionable that we stay in this limbo and that things continue to drift. My message to the DUP is clear - join with Sinn Féin and other parties to restore the political institutions. Together, we can make politics work for everyone. As we look to the future, this has never been more important. I believe Ireland will be changed and changed utterly 25 years hence. We can have, we should have, and we need to work for an Ireland that is prosperous and leads the way in so many different aspects of life.

Today's findings from the Ombudsman's inquiry into the murder of Councillor Patsy Kelly 50 years ago recall for us the pain of conflict and show how truth and reconciliation must be cornerstones of the better future we build together. I wish to record my support for the family's call for an inquest to uncover exactly what happened Patsy.

Creidim go mbainfimid Éire aontaithe amach. Ní bóthar éasca atá romhainn ach ceann atá lán dóchais. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go mbeadh meas againn go léir ar thuairimí agus ar dhearcthaí gach uile dhuine sa phróiseas seo. It is my strong view that we need a conversation now about what orderly, peaceful, democratic, constitutional change looks like. That is why the Government must establish a citizens’ assembly on Irish reunification. We need to give people the chance to engage, to come and say their piece, and I include in that our citizens who are unionists. For those who are British in a partitioned Ireland and who will be British in a united Ireland to have their say, to have an equal stake is the most incredible opportunity for our island. This is a time for respect and reconciliation. It is in that spirit and staying true to her pledge to be a First Minister for all, that my colleague, Michelle O’Neill, will attend the coronation of the British King Charles next month. I do not think we could ever overstate what can be achieved in the next 25 years if we are united, if we have common purpose, if we have patience, if we have respect for each other, if we honour still the fundamental pillars of the Good Friday Agreement, but say also that there is no limit to where we can go and no boundary to our ambitions.

In the spring of 1998, a generation reached for hope and a new way forward. Through the Good Friday Agreement, they wrote a ground-breaking chapter in Ireland’s story. Today, it falls to our generation to write ours. Here in our time, we can build a united nation home. We can realise the promise of a better tomorrow. It is an opportunity we must seize with both hands.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

The Good Friday Agreement rightly and deservedly stands apart, is internationally respected and is a milestone in terms of what is possible when people mired in and plagued by conflict not only aspire to peace, but are committed to moving beyond conflict. Oftentimes, and perhaps most often, speaking of such agreements or processes is within the context of constitutional issues, ideology or national aspirations. These are by their very nature crucial and important matters, deserving of respect in terms of the genuine aspiration from where they come.

We should never get away from the crucial component, namely, the impact on ordinary people, families and communities. In that context, it is immediately apparent why the Good Friday Agreement is referenced and respected as it is. That is because it has delivered. We in Ireland lived in a society and community where political conflict was to the fore but are now commonly referred to as a post-conflict society. That is something of which all parties should be proud, cherish and have a responsibility to nurture.

We should nurture it because the Good Friday Agreement has not been implemented in full, with legacy issues a crucial area at present. It is incumbent on us all to ensure that, as we look to the future, we honestly and properly address and have regard to the past. Victims, their families, all political parties, the Irish Government and the human rights commission have highlighted major flaws with legislation pertaining to this matter that is being progressed by the British Government. The legacy Bill represents a clear breach of British Government commitments in two international treaties, namely, the Stormont House and New Decade, New Approach agreements. Instead of fostering and building upon our peace and seeking to meet the needs of all our people, the Bill stands clearly as representing a blatant disregard for victims. The Stormont House Agreement, agreed by the Irish and British Governments as well as the political parties, provides an agreed framework and mechanisms to give victims access to the truth and justice they rightly deserve in a human rights-compliant manner. The truth is that agents of the British state were central to the murder of hundreds of nationalists and republicans throughout the decades of the conflict. They utterly controlled the loyalist paramilitaries. They armed them, handed them intelligence and then covered up their deeds again and again. The British Government must accept responsibility for the actions of its agents as part of the truth and reconciliation path we are all on.

It is incumbent on the Government to prepare responsibly for the border poll that is referenced in the Good Friday Agreement. Those of us who advocate for Irish reunification have a responsibility to make our case and to win hearts and minds in this democracy. We in Sinn Féin, along with many others across this island, are proposing the establishment of a citizens' assembly to do just that. While the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement focuses on the past, the lessons we have to learn and the positives that were achieved, we now have a responsibility to look to the future and start to imagine what a future Ireland will look like. We need to start to talk to each other and discuss our responsibilities rather than wishing it away or that time will be delayed and stalled. We have that responsibility. It is now the responsibility of the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, who are present, as well as that of the Taoiseach, to establish a citizens' assembly. They say they advocate for Irish reunification and wish to see it. It is time to prepare for the border poll that will be coming down the line, not to wish it away.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh

The Good Friday Agreement was a monumental achievement by all involved. It showed courageous leadership and has brought us to a really good place for the past 25 years. One of the shortcomings of the agreement was the failure to have a proper implementation structure. Now, 25 years on, many elements of the agreement are yet to be implemented. I refer in particular to the bill of rights and the all-island charter of rights. It is incumbent on the Tánaiste and the Government to ensure they play their part in the bill of rights and the all-island charter of rights being realised. I ask that the Government strengthen and expand the North-South Ministerial Council and, in particular, to ensure it includes further and higher education. There are significant opportunities at third level for reconciliation across the island.

I wish to discuss constitutional change. However we look at the next 25 years, we know there will be constitutional change. I am not sure when it will happen but it will happen. There is an onus on the Government to represent citizens to ensure we have prepared for that change. The Cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, Deputy O'Dowd, is present. The committee is currently considering the various aspects in that regard, such as what an all-island economy, health service, education and so on would look like. Last week, Dr. Tom Boland and Dr. Ciara Fitzpatrick appeared before the committee in a telling contribution on welfare and pensions in particular. What came from that was the possibilities with which we are presented here and now. Since partition and the foundation of the State, we have never had an opportunity to understand and put forward the values that should underpin our welfare, education, health and other systems. We have opportunities here and we need to grasp them. Many academic papers have been written on this. In particular, I commend the shared island unit on the research it has carried out. A framework for that to be done is needed, however, and it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that is delivered.

Deputy Pauline Tully

The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998. It is not putting it too strongly to describe it as probably the most important political agreement of our time. It brought an end to almost three decades of conflict and is held up by many internationally as an example of how deep-rooted conflicts can be resolved. It is not perfect. After all, it was a compromise between conflicting political positions after decades of violence and generations of division. Crucial elements of the agreement have still not been implemented by the British and Irish Governments. Nonetheless, the new dispensation ushered in by the agreement has replaced the years of violence that preceded it.

Earlier initiatives failed to bring peace because they were not inclusive and they consciously failed to address the causes of conflict. Peacebuilding requires a different approach. Peace is not simply about ending conflict; it has to tackle the causes of conflict. Peace must, therefore, include justice. The Hume-Adams agreement established the inclusive dialogue that was essential for building peace. As Jonathan Powell, the Downing Street chief of staff at the time of the agreement, remarked in his contribution to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement last year, "The crucial point about the Good Friday Agreement negotiations was making them inclusive." In addition, the issue of equality had to be embedded in the agreement and, correctly, there are 21 references to equality in the text. That stands in sharp contrast with the Sunningdale Agreement, where it is not mentioned at all.

The promise of the agreement is for a new society in which all citizens are respected, the failed policies of the past are addressed and justice, equality and democracy are the guiding principles. It provides for the first time a peaceful democratic pathway to achieving Irish independence and unity. In his contribution to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement last December, Gerry Adams remarked that, "Very few countries get a chance to begin anew. We in Ireland, North and South, have that chance." At a time when it has been reported in the media that the British Prime Minister has told the DUP it needs to back his Brexit plan or face a united Ireland, it makes no sense not to plan or prepare for unity referendums on this island. Unity referendums are an integral part of the Good Friday Agreement and the Government has a responsibility to plan for constitutional change. On the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, we should mark and honour it by rededicating ourselves to ensuring it is fully implemented and that we build on its achievements and the opportunities it has unlocked.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

The road to the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998 was long and difficult. Success was not certain. Right up to the final hours, it was unclear that an agreement could be reached. In the end, led by the chairperson of the talks, Senator George Mitchell, an historic settlement was reached. It mapped out a peaceful route to addressing the issues of divided sovereignty, policing, paramilitarism, discrimination and shared government - issues that had, up to that point, cost 3,500 lives and caused untold misery.

I remember the early briefings I attended in 1993 by Albert Reynolds and Dick Spring and the prospect and hope that there could be an historic advance. When that was finally reached, it was said that the agreement was a critical milestone in an ongoing journey. It was not the end point but simply a waypoint in a journey. However, it meant that for the overwhelming majority of people, North and South, political matters thereafter would be addressed not by strength of arms but by strength of argument. So many people played a part in reaching this achievement, which was overwhelmingly endorsed in referendums North and South, and of course involved changes to our own Constitution here.

The agreement is a complex one for those who read it carefully. It is still being worked through in all its detail. It involved two separate documents: a multi-party agreement signed by most but not all parties in Northern Ireland at the time, and an international binding agreement between the sovereign Governments of Great Britain and Ireland. It involved, as John Hume, one of the key architects always envisaged, three sets of relationships, three strands: relationships within Northern Ireland; relationships between Northern Ireland and the Republic; and relationships between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It is right and appropriate that we remember and salute all those who helped make this agreement possible: John Hume, David Trimble, Gerry Adams, Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, Mo Mowlam, David Andrews, Senator George Mitchell, Monica McWilliams and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, and many more who had a part in the journey towards that historic day.

It is however more important and more urgent that we look forward now. Peace can never be taken for granted and the plain facts are that the institutions created by the Good Friday Agreement have not functioned as they should or as they had been envisaged and are continuing not to function; foremost, the internal governance structures and institutions of Northern Ireland itself, and the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Executive. As we speak in this debate, neither the Executive nor the assembly is in place or working. That is both dangerous and undermining of the very fabric of the agreement that we celebrate with great pride 25 years later.

On the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, in April 2018, the former deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP, Seamus Mallon, another key player in bringing this agreement about, described his anger and sadness at the state of politics then. He accused the DUP and Sinn Féin of creating political silos and almost Balkanising the country, as he put it. The agreement was meant to allow a space of peace and calm for people and communities to grow together. Too often, the focus has been on emphasising difference and division since.

There is no denying that Brexit has been an enormous destabiliser of the relationships between the United Kingdom and Ireland, and within Northern Ireland. There is no escaping that. The Brexit programme was carried out without regard to the impact it would have on this island and its people. The fact that it was pursued in its most virulent form by those who came to power in the United Kingdom after the referendum has added immeasurably to that damage, but that is the reality of the circumstances we must face. We must all try harder to understand better each other's point of view, but much more importantly than mere understanding, we must respect. It is not good enough simply to listen, we must hear. We must have inclusive education, real cultural involvement, and revisit the obstacles to the peace of mind of other people, to understand what causes them fundamental upset. Even if we do not understand it fully, we need to engage to try to understand it, and to remove those obstacles to people's peace of mind if we can. Peace is more than the absence of war, and maintaining peace requires as much work, sweat and commitment as were involved by those who achieved it in the first place.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Simon Coveney)

I wish to share time with Deputy O'Dowd.

An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach (Deputy Cathal Crowe)

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy Simon Coveney

As has been said well by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, and Opposition spokespeople, the Good Friday Agreement is a treasure unearthed after a huge amount of work and bravery in Belfast in 1998. It has been valued and protected ever since by those of us who remember the terrible death and maiming that was brought on by the Troubles for three decades. The Good Friday Agreement is a piece of genius. No government, no party, no generation, no community and no tradition owns it. It is owned by everybody, and it has allowed an entire generation to grow up in relative peace, unlike the lives lived by their parents before them.

As the Minister who was responsible for Brexit negotiations for five years, I was in no doubt that if we agreed anything that risked the Good Friday Agreement or saw a return of an economic border on the island of Ireland, we would have been allowing a fundamental undermining of a peace guarantee. The Irish people are fair to their core, but they will not accept an unravelling of the Good Friday Agreement now or in the future. They will not accept going backwards.

The recent anniversary celebrations were inclusive and respectful and those who organised and participated in them have a lot to be proud of and should be thanked. People of all traditions and none marked the moment with dignity. However, there was something missing, something that the Good Friday Agreement gave us and something that, for the most part, has worked and propelled Northern Ireland and relationships there forward. That something is a functioning assembly and government, accountable to Northern Ireland and making decisions for Northern Ireland, in Northern Ireland. As there is no government, some of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement lie idle. There is no North-South Ministerial Council, and so the work of neighbours acting together for the common good on a shared island is not at the level it should be. This stagnation continuing and becoming the norm is an exercise in going backwards.

Peace brought stability and that stability allowed businesses on both sides of the Border to grow and prosper. My Department's most active role in helping to foster this shared prosperity is through InterTradelreland, the North-South trade and business body established under the Good Friday Agreement. Since its establishment, it has supported more than 50,000 businesses on the island, generating €1.6 billion in business development value and protected and sustained more than 20,000 jobs.

In truth, the biggest damage of having no Executive is being felt internally in Northern Ireland itself. People believe in the path of democracy and have continually voted for it. No politician or party has the right to block that path just as it reaches the doors of Stormont with an election result. More than a mandate, the elected politicians in Northern Ireland have been given a clear instruction from people: "Do your job and form a government on behalf of everybody in Northern Ireland." I could leave it there and then perhaps the usual script would play out. The Irish Government would call on the DUP to support the formation of a government and a functioning Executive. The usual suspects would be sent out to criticise us in the media. Then, in turn, others will come out who agree with our position, and the long circular standoff will continue.

The alternative to that negative, circular, corrosive narrative in Northern Ireland entails all political leaders choosing to see the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement as a moment of opportunity to work together to think beyond their own base and make decisions to serve all of Northern Ireland, as leaders did 25 years ago.

I have spent hundreds of hours with all the current leaders in Northern Ireland. I consider Ms Naomi Long, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Ms Michelle O'Neill, Mr. Doug Beattie and Mr. Colum Eastwood to be experienced politicians of genuine integrity. I know they can move this process forward if they agree to work together. The two Governments are available and the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and UK Prime Minister are ready to give whatever help is needed to move the process forward. It is now time to return government to Northern Ireland and serve people there with a democracy they voted for in the past and deserve in the future.

Deputy Fergus O'Dowd

I wish to reflect on the number of people who lost their lives during the conflict, or Troubles, in Northern Ireland. More than 3,700 people died and 47,541 were injured. The majority of those who died were actually innocent civilians, and 68% of those injured were also innocent civilians. Therefore, the Troubles cast considerable shame on all those involved. The Good Friday Agreement is bringing to an end the awful, terrible killing, murder and violence. It has built on the peace and we have hopes for the future.

I attended the events last week in Queen's University, Belfast, where more than 1,000 delegates, mainly from Northern Ireland, had gathered. The vast majority were young people and they spoke about their hope and belief that the future would be brighter and better. That the British Prime Minister, Mr. Rishi Sunak, was there was very important. The improving relationships on which members of the Irish Cabinet, including the Taoiseach, the current Minister for Foreign Affairs and the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, namely, Deputy Coveney, have worked have made a big difference to the outlook, having regard to the goodwill that now exists between the British and Irish Governments and the improved relationships I hope can result from that. We must remember the presence of the US President, Mr. Biden, and we must not forget the importance of having Ms Ursula von der Leyen and other EU delegates all present in the one room talking about the same business and trying to get peace restored and the political institutions up and running.

At my committee, the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, of which Deputies Tully and Conway-Walsh are very much a part, our job as Members of Parliament is to determine what we can do to improve North-South relationships and put on the table to help in the debate as people want to grapple with the future and the changed situation in Northern Ireland. We have had very good engagement with the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of the British Parliament, in particular. Its Chairman, Mr. Simon Hoare, was present last week in Belfast. We have had several meetings with the British parliamentarians and I believe they have been very positive. Working with those parliamentarians is one way in which we have been able to communicate directly with Members of Parliament from the unionist community who will not attend our committee meetings.

Our Oireachtas committee has 15 members, including Deputies and Senators. Of the 18 MPs elected in Northern Ireland to the House of Commons, ten attend our meetings regularly. Therefore, I believe we have good impetus, but we need to go further. We need to reach out and engage with unionism. If there is one thing I could not stress enough, it is the importance of that engagement. On the one hand, there is a legitimate and appropriate reference in the Good Friday Agreement to having a border poll at some stage in the future. However, on the other hand, it is incumbent on those of us who believe in a united Ireland to engage with unionists and reassure them of their Britishness in talking about how we can we have an Executive in the North that would work with a Government in the South and increase co-operation on economic, social, political, education and health affairs. One good thing happening in this regard is engagement with our committee on the all-Ireland cancer strategy. No matter where people live in Ireland, they should be in a position to get the best care available in the North or South and the attention they need for their cancer type. These are the practical, realistic points we have to address in the future. To talk about a border poll is right and legitimate, but if we do not flesh it out and assure and reassure those concerned, particularly unionists, we will not succeed in this area.

Members of the Opposition rightly outlined things the Irish Government has to do, but there are also things that Sinn Féin has to do, along with people who were previously in the IRA. When I visit WAVE Trauma Centre in Belfast and meet the families of those disappeared by the IRA, I feel very disappointed that the families of people like Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac, Lisa Dorrian and Seamus Maguire have not had closure on foot of the evil deeds done to them. It is incumbent on all of us to recognise that to have true peace, there must be true closure. Everybody is entitled to the honour of being buried among their family, and nobody ever has a right to kill anyone. To have disappeared people forever was absolutely abhorrent and totally unacceptable.

Our committee has been to the Houses of Parliament in London and to Belfast, Derry and Washington. We are happy to engage with all the parties because, at the end of the day, there is great goodwill and momentum, but we need to persuade unionists to step forward and take their place in the Executive. That is the task that faces us now.

Deputy Paul Donnelly

The Good Friday Agreement is built on the European Convention on Human Rights. All through the document, the signatories and co-guarantors refer to human rights, equality and justice as the foundations that would move society away from conflict and sustain a lasting peace. Sadly, the Good Friday Agreement did not reconcile with the past or engage with the rights of victims and survivors. However, as we have seen, the human rights landscape transformation that occurred has benefited many bereaved families and some of the injured, although it has not been enough. Repeatedly, we have heard during events to mark this most important of anniversaries that this is the outstanding work based on the Good Friday Agreement.

Victims and survivors were asked to park their rights in the interest of the greater good of securing peace. As the constituency that saw the worst of the conflict and understood best the importance of peace, they did so. However, their generosity has not been repaid. Victims and survivors have been treated disgracefully over the past 25 years, experiencing everything from being told to draw a line under the past to being promised the Stormont House Agreement only to see it reneged upon. The British Government's legacy Bill is the final ignominy and insult for those who deserve so much better. For this anniversary not to be remembered as another lost opportunity, victims' and survivors' rights must be put to the top of the intergovernmental agenda, and firm proposals on how these rights will be protected must be put on the top of all of our agendas.

Deputy Seán Crowe

I am old enough to remember the worst days of the conflict. I knew people who were killed, maimed and imprisoned, with communities and futures destroyed. Individuals or members of a Government or political party who threaten, by their actions or inaction, to bring us back to those days need their heads examined.

I was secretary of the Sinn Féin delegation to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation some four years before the Good Friday Agreement. One of my remaining impressions of that period was the reticence and awkwardness between delegations about talking to each other outside the room, and this was between those who showed up and took part. Political unionism was represented by the Alliance Party and there was a representative who spoke reflecting loyalist prisoners. I also took part in talks and negotiations in Dublin, the North and Downing Street.

If there was one thing I would go back and change, it would be to inject a greater focus on reconciliation. We built a peace process, a process that is still going, but sometimes it feels like we are further apart than when we started. We spent a lot of time discussing how to end conflict without examining the core causes of the conflict. There is still so much inequality and poverty that drives a wedge between communities, hampering any efforts to build the peace into something more.

Deprivation west of the Bann is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. The lack of investment the North has seen for generations continues to haunt every step forward. Poverty and inequality will always be the greatest stumbling block to change. It holds us back and means the peace walls have only grown higher in some people’s minds since 1998. That slowness of change is possibly my greatest regret when it comes to the Good Friday Agreement.

Something that should not go without mention is the role of some very important strong women in getting the Good Friday Agreement over the line. I remember Liz O’Donnell in particular, a self-assured woman from Dublin, being the target of some ire from unionists. They hated her because she was a Minister from Dublin and because she was a woman. Mo Mowlam, a woman suffering from cancer, was an integral part in breaking down barriers between delegations. I remember her going from room to room in Hillsborough Castle late at night while people were trying to get what sleep they could on chairs or on floors. She got curtains somewhere and gave them out as blankets. I remember the crucial efforts of Lucilita Bhreatnach, Bairbre de Brún, the late Siobhán O'Hanlon, Rita O’Hare and many other women within our own delegation. Everyone had their part to play and nobody should be airbrushed from history. Peace came at a price for so many, but we need to build collectively on the sacrifice of so many.

Deputy Gary Gannon

I fully appreciate the extraordinary achievement that is the Good Friday Agreement. It is captured perfectly in some of the statements made recently by George Mitchell, who was instrumental in achieving it. He captured it in numbers when he said that from the start of the Troubles until 1998, more than 3,500 people were killed and an estimated 50,000 were injured, and that in the 25 years since the agreement was reached, there have been about 164 security-related deaths. These deaths are extraordinarily lamentable and we need to continue to work every day to ensure this number drops to zero.

When we talk about the achievement of the Good Friday Agreement, we also need to acknowledge those who contributed to it. Many of them have been mentioned in the Chamber today or have been captured over the past couple of weeks. It has also been said and I repeat that it was achieved by those who engaged with each other and engaged in the process over decades. They sat across tables from people who they previously probably could not have comprehended and achieved that peace, and that belongs to them. Other notable figures include Mo Mowlam, whose impact is severely missed. As we celebrated the anniversary, a lot of people brought her contribution to the fore. I read today about her visits to prisons and talks with leaders of the loyalist community. That capacity to roll the sleeves up and get stuck in was remarkable. Monica McWilliams from the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition was another notable figure. We must also remember those who campaigned in the North for a yes vote. Going from door to door during very tumultuous times showed extraordinary bravery that should be remembered.

I read about the manner in which the truth about the Good Friday Agreement is taught here and in the North. I was reflecting on that as I passed by Oriel House, which sits on the corner of Westland Row. That building will feature as part of an RTÉ documentary tonight on the Good Friday Agreement that talks about its role in the Civil War as a place to which pro-treaty forces brought anti-treaty prisoners and engaged in significant levels of torture. It was referred to by one historian on "Morning Ireland" this morning as almost a Gestapo-like building where extraordinary acts of cruelty were carried out.

Coincidentally, I used to work in that building as part of Trinity access programmes where I taught leadership to younger people. Two people I would regularly invite to that building to share their experiences with young people were Stephen Travers and Eugene Reavey. They would talk to transition year students from DEIS schools around Dublin about the tragedies they experienced during the Troubles. What always struck me was the extent to which young people here had very little concept of the achievement of the Good Friday Agreement or the Troubles and its depravity. Through Mr. Travers's incredible dignity and capacity to tell his story with courage and Mr. Reavey's ability to relate, young people would become aghast all of a sudden when they heard about what these two individuals experienced.

I think about the importance of telling the truth and sharing and teaching our history. Not teaching our history is dangerous. Emma DeSouza captured this in a recent article when she spoke about how many young people in the North and indeed in the Republic are not taught simple truths about the Troubles and the Good Friday Agreement. The Troubles is an elective module for the minority who study general certificate of secondary education, GCSE, history, so only pupils in the North who choose GCSE history and are taught the Troubles module will learn anything about it. The same is true for students in the Republic. If they do not choose history, they simply will not be taught anything about the Troubles and the importance of the Good Friday Agreement. We are missing generations of peace babies who have grown up and felt the peace and its achievement but are simply no longer learning about it. As we move further and further away from those times, we need to ensure on both sides of the Border that those histories are taught because although it is hoped people like Stephen Travers and Eugene Reavey will be with us for a very long time, they will not be around forever and there is an onus on us to ensure we never lose sight of those histories.

When we talk about the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement and what it has meant for those born in the 25 years since, we must remember that while ending large-scale violence remains its greatest achievement, realising reconciliation remains an elusive aspiration. I thought again about Stephen Travers and Eugene Reavey in connection with that. They have set up an organisation called the Truth and Reconciliation Platform, which simply seeks to tell to policymakers and anybody who will listen the truth of their experience and the experience of those like them to ensure we never forget it and that we become conscious that it could happen again.

Those peace babies have felt peace but they also experience significant levels of social injustice the same as young people do down here when it comes to educational attainment, emigration and absence of housing. The chief executive of the Simon Community in the North, Jim Dennison, described the current housing situation in the North as the worst in the history of the charity. He said that another 1,000 people, including families, are deemed legally homeless every month with almost 44,500 currently on the social housing waiting list, many of whom are classed as being in acute housing need. Of the 600,000 young people born in the North after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, thousands are leaving every year. The poverty rate in the North in 2021 was 16% - 300,000 people estimated to be living in relative poverty.

I would like to go on and talk about the fact that there is an onus on those of us who believe in and are committed to achieving a united Ireland at some point to make the case for it. There is an onus on us to bring people on that journey. There has been some discussion today about constitutional change and even decades of persuasion, but we need a decade of reimagining what a republic could look like.

Deputy Seán Haughey

Our reflections over recent weeks on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement are drawing to a close. It was fascinating at the conference in Queen's University in Belfast last week listening to the insights of the main players involved in reaching the agreement.

I think in particular of Senator George Mitchell who chaired the peace talks. All of us on these islands owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the crucial role he played in the talks. His observation that the participants in the talks took real risks in signing up to the agreement is well made. Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, David Trimble, Gerry Adams, John Hume and all the rest of them who have been named in this debate so far all took real risks in their own ways and we are very grateful to them for that.

I have also been thinking over recent weeks about Fr. Alec Reid, the Redemptorist priest from Clonard Monastery in Belfast and the role he played in the early stages of the peace process. I had the privilege of meeting him on a few occasions when he visited our family home in north Dublin, delivering important messages at the time. A quiet, unassuming man, there is no doubt in my mind that he was a living saint.

I also had the honour recently of meeting with his colleague in the peace process Rev. Harold Good in Belfast. He continues to undertake important work in fostering peace between the two communities in the North.

Anyone who has read Monica McWilliams autobiography Stand Up, Speak Out will be left in no doubt about the crucial role played by the women’s coalition in the peace talks. She writes about the appalling sectarianism she grew up with and the shocking misogyny she had to contend with. It is clear to me that women, given their priorities, insights and unique people skills, will always play an important role in conflict resolution generally. I listened to Deputy Seán Crowe’s contribution. He also listed a number of other women who were very active in the peace talks. It is right that they were named in this debate also. Monica McWilliams, Bertie Ahern and people like the former public servant Tim O’Connor continue their work for peace quietly and behind the scenes, in this case by trying to bring about the disbandment of paramilitary groups.

So where do we go from here? A hard-won peace is in place and the era of the so-called Troubles is at an end. We have got to get the Executive and the assembly at Stormont functioning again. A huge effort has been put into trying to resolve the impasse. The EU and the UK have agreed the Windsor Framework, headed by the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the Commission vice president, Maroš Šefčovič. Yesterday, Maroš Šefčovič engaged with the Joint Committee on EU Affairs. It is clear that he considers the Windsor Framework a major achievement and that he is totally committed, with the British Government, to ensuring the full implementation of the framework. A lot of work still has to be done to ensure that.

Relations between Ireland and Britain have greatly improved. US President Joe Biden has appointed Joe Kennedy III as a special economic envoy to Northern Ireland and has talked about substantial investment in the North if political stability can be achieved. We need to attend to the unfinished business arising from the Good Friday Agreement and also tackle new challenges facing Northern Ireland society. These are issues such as the needs of victims and survivors, the so-called legacy issues, which we have discussed on many occasions in the House. We have put forward our strong opposition to UK Government proposals in that regard. There is also the need for a bill of rights and the establishment of a civic forum. The health service in Northern Ireland is in crisis; education remains largely segregated. There is the crisis in the public finances and the cost-of-living crisis. Reconciliation is still a work in progress.

In this context I would also like to recognise the worked of Corrymeela and the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. The shared island initiative also feeds into this process and in particular the shared island dialogue which the Tánaiste was responsible for establishing. The engagement with young people and, again, with women about the future society they would like to achieve for themselves is particularly notable. Important work is being done in that forum.

I am reminded of Senator Mitchell’s call on the current and future political leaders to show the same courage and vision as their predecessors did 25 years ago. All of us have a role to play in that. Other speakers have mentioned it already. We, as Members of the Oireachtas, have a role to play in reconciliation and in advancing the details of the Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that it is fully implemented.

There have been calls for reform of the Stormont power-sharing structures. These followed last year's assembly elections. As we know, the Alliance Party did well in the 2022 elections. It does not identify as nationalist or unionist and is deemed “other”. We now have a situation where each community has a veto, where there has to be a coalition and where one side cannot govern without the other. In the past, both Sinn Féin and the DUP collapsed the Northern Ireland institutions. However, the priority must now be to get a functioning assembly and Executive up and running as soon as possible under the existing arrangements. The people of the North deserve this. Reform is something that can be considered in due course but not for the moment. The priority must be to get the institutions under the current arrangements up and running to ensure that the people of Northern Ireland get the government and assembly they deserve and to start tackling the many problems, that I have outlined, that confront society in Northern Ireland.

I wish the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs well in their work on that, in their negotiations with the British Government and their interactions with the parties in Northern Ireland and their dealings with the EU and the US Administration. It is clear from the debate today that much work remains to be done in relation to implementing all the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement and also the issues and challenges that have emerged since then having regard to normal politics.

I will leave it at that. I had expected to share time but I was delighted to be able to make those few points as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Belfast Agreement.

Deputy Martin Browne

The Good Friday Agreement at 25 years is an endorsement of how peace, when it is pursued by all, is something that can be attained and can change lives and communities. When the painstaking negotiations were taking place that common goal of peace kept matters progressing to a stage when achievement was possible. That is the value of all sides pursuing the one objective. It is a common effort where there is a unity of purpose and that unity of purpose must be recognised for what it is and what it has achieved. We saw the desire for peace in those who laid the groundwork for the Good Friday Agreement. We saw it in the coming together of representatives who we never thought we would see in one room and in the level of support, North and South, from those who voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Good Friday Agreement.

Even though there are many different opinions on this island regarding how people would like to see Ireland move into the future, we can all agree that what has been achieved must not be lost. Peace is not a single thing, however. It is dependent on a number of factors for it to work: tolerance, understanding and an ability to understand each others' grievances. The acknowledgement of these factors in delivering upon the acceptance of that has resulted in an achievement all here would welcome unwaveringly.

A generation has emerged that has no memory of conflict on this island. That is an achievement of epic proportions. We cannot lose sight of that, or how it was an achievement that must be continually nurtured. As power-sharing remained suspended, Brexit has brought us to a low point whereby the Tory Government has sought to use the Good Friday Agreement and the unique situation in the North of Ireland for its own self-interested purposes. This cynical manoeuvring has resulted in the suspension of power-sharing and the re-emergence of a type of rhetoric that should be confined to the past, as the checkpoints on the Border have been.

We have also seen elements of this unilateral attitude being adopted in legislation designed to protect British State forces from prosecution and historical inquests. Like the path pursued by some in the course of the Brexit debacle, the unilateral approach used also flies in the face of the Good Friday Agreement. Those who seek to nullify the gains of the agreement in this way are withholding progress from the people they claim to represent. Whether those representatives like it or not, they need to keep working together. The time for one section of society in the North of Ireland to have total control of others is over. The power-sharing Executive must work for the many, not just for a select few. The use of the Good Friday Agreement for self-serving purposes that have nothing to do with the purpose of the agreement must desist. The British and Irish Governments must continue to fulfil their roles as co-guarantors. I advise them to read back through their obligations and to act and engage accordingly.

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú

We remember the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed 25 years ago. We look back on the period as a time when hope, courage and vision came into place when they were needed. We would like to see that in the future, particularly in light of the constrained circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Let us talk about the history of the North. Partition was copper-fastened 100 years ago through the threat of terrible and immediate war. There was a history of pogroms, supremacy and sectarianism. There were Northern nationalists who felt abandoned by the southern establishment. There were many years of terrible conflict during which hurt was done to many. Much of that hurt still remains with many families. An awful lot of it is unresolved.

We saw huge courage and bravery. The difficulty with naming names is that you will leave somebody out. People spoke of John Hume, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, David Irvine, David Trimble and George Mitchell. I also remember the heavy lifting that was done by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. They brought a movement with them, and history taught them not to trust the British Government in any way. Let us be clear, because people have spoken about this matter before. It was British Governments that operated death squads in Ireland. We all know the reality in this regard. I remember Patsy Kelly. In my constituency, I think of the Dundalk bombing in which we lost Hugh Watters and Jack Rooney. That happened on the same night in December 1975 as the attack on Donnelly's Bar. Three people were lost in the attack on Donnelly's Bar, namely, Michael Donnelly, Patrick Donnelly and Trevor Brecknell. We also remember Seamus Ludlow. These are people who were killed by amalgamations of British State forces and loyalists, who are absolutely up to their necks in British intelligence.

We are in a far more hopeful place now. The Windsor Framework shows a direction forward. Hopefully, the DUP can join the rest of us and we can form a Northern Executive and deliver for the people. Beyond that, there must be constitutional change. We can build something better for all of us who live on the island of Ireland.

Deputy Bríd Smith

People Before Profit-Solidarity has produced a short pamphlet on the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement. For the purpose of this debate, I will read some extracts from it. The 25th anniversary of the agreement has been marked by praise for the negotiators who pieced the text together. However, when the historical record is examined, it will appear that the architects of peace were not just politicians. The demand for an end to all violence came from mobilisations of organised labour. In 1992, thousands joined a rally in Belfast organised by the Belfast Trades Council after the murder of five people in a bookie’s shop on the Ormeau Road. In 1993, 7,000 people gathered outside Belfast City Hall for a rally called by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, to express opposition to the Shankill Road bombing and the massacre in Greysteel. In Derry, another 5,000 people gathered. In 1994, 2,000 workers from Harland and Wolff walked out of their jobs after a 50-year-old Catholic welder was murdered by the Ulster Volunteer Force, UVF. The demand for peace came from below and acted as a pressure point on paramilitaries. Ownership of that peace cannot be appropriated by any one group of elite politicians.

The hope in 1998 was that, with consensus having supposedly been reached on how to handle issues arising from sectarianism, communities would come together through working in harmony on practical, day-to-day matters. The underlying assumption was that there were two irreconcilable cultures and identities in the North that have equal validity and that must be represented at a governmental level. Therefore, Sinn Féin and the DUP have been able to consolidate their support at the expense of the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist Party. The guns may have gone relatively quiet, but the sectarian axis of politics remains. The sectarianism at the heart of the Northern state means that the DUP are using their communal veto to prevent the emergence of a Stormont Executive. They have manufactured a cause by focusing on the protocol. With no shame about being in a minority when it came to a referendum, they are engaged in obstructionist policies that have one motive, namely, to shore up their political base in the face of opposition from rivals like the Traditional Unionist Voice, TUV. All this manoeuvring reveals that the DUP is so sectarian that it will not have one of its members serve as deputy First Minister to a Sinn Féin First Minister. Although the titles are purely symbolic, the institutionalisation of sectarianism has magnified this as the key issue. The Tories have pandered to the DUP every step of the way. All of this exposes the underlying problem with the Belfast Agreement.

The Good Friday Agreement ended the worst of the armed conflict. Most people report that they feel safe in their communities. There is a lot more mixing of young people without any regard to which communities they come from. On the other hand, more people have died by suicide since 1998 than were killed during the entire conflict. There are more peace walls than there were before the agreement. People have seen a peace built not on increasing prosperity for the majority but, rather, on the promise of cheap labour for multinationals. Workers in the North earn, on average, 10% less than their counterparts in Britain and less again than workers in the South. Certainly, some in the North have found prosperity since the agreement came into force. There has been a 40% rise in the number of millionaires in Northern Ireland between 2010 and today, but the majority of people have not shared in this supposed bonanza. Real wages in 2023 have not returned to pre-2008 levels. Welfare reform has ensured that wages have fallen considerably. Living standards have also fallen considerably.

We say, therefore, that a border poll is urgently required in order that people can have the option of choosing whether they wish to remain in a failed state. Such a referendum should be held across the entire island. If it is successful, it should lead to a constituents' assembly to develop proposals for a different country in which sectarianism will be confined to the dustbin of history. People Before Profit-Solidarity will advance a clear socialist position and argue for an end to the tax-haven status that currently dominates this State. We will also argue an end to the domination of the church in the control of schools and hospitals and for the creation of a secular Ireland in which all workers will make gains.

Deputy Mick Barry

The Socialist Party has a unique, distinct and socialist viewpoint on the Good Friday Agreement. The key gain from the 1990s was peace, which was vital for both communities and for every individual living on this island. How did peace come about? First and foremost, it was the result of pressure from below, including the large street protests and strikes against the atrocities of the early and mid-1990s that sent a clear message to the paramilitaries that the game was up.

US and British imperialists are not emissaries for peace, as was clearly shown in Iraq just five years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. However, it was in the interests of Clinton, Blair, Ahern, Adams, Trimble and others to conclude an agreement in 1998. This was done.

In so doing, however, the North was left with a form of institutionalised sectarianism and with promises of a peace dividend that was never delivered in any real sense. These facts are major factors in the very real sectarian divides that remain to this day on the ground. Ironically, this divide is shown by attitudes to the Good Friday Agreement itself 25 years on, with near-unanimous support in Catholic communities but with only 34% support in Protestant communities. The lesson of the old unionist regime is that a minority cannot be coerced into a state against its will. The same applies today. The Protestant minority on the island were not coerced into a united Ireland by bullets, nor will they be coerced today by ballots in the form of a border poll. The Catholic population, meanwhile, will not accept the constitutional status quo.

The way to break the deadlock is to look at the force that broke the deadlock previously, namely, the working class, and to make the issue of consent central and key. Workers stood united today on picket lanes throughout Northern Ireland to combat the cost-of-living crisis. Now is the time for that unity to be extended onto the political plain, with the establishment of a new working-class party to oppose both the sectarian parties and capitalism itself. The working-class movement can go further again and forge a vision of an alternative Ireland, a socialist Ireland based on consent, agreement and a unity forged in struggle against capitalism and for real change.

Deputy Cathal Crowe

While the Good Friday Agreement is a shared story for every citizen of this island, I acknowledge from this side of the House the role our party, Fianna Fáil, played in that period, and, in particular, our former leader Bertie Ahern. Central to everything we say and think about the Good Friday Agreement must be the victims of violence in Northern Ireland, that is, the 3,700 who lost their lives and the just under 50,000 who were maimed and injured during that violent period of history.

I recently travelled to Northern Ireland as part of the Fianna Fáil committee on the Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland. We met people from the communities at the WAVE Trauma Centre. It was saddening and thought-provoking to meet the family of Columba McVeigh and Joe Lynskey's niece, who are still waiting for answers. The victims of this period of violence should not be forgotten and those who can still come forward to help with that healing should do so. As has been noted by many Deputies, this is the passing of a moment of history, and very soon many of the actors from this period, including both those who chose a democratic role and those who did not, will depart from public life but they should also play a role in bringing healing to this.

I was also taken by the fact that many people who had chosen a violent path during those decades put down their arms and wanted a peaceful path, on which they are to be commended. At the same time, I heard clearly in January that in both communities, nationalist and unionist, there are still strongmen who, although they may have given up on ideology, have taken up other forms of community enforcement. That needs to be denounced in this Chamber, and they need to put down the other forms of weaponry and tools they exercise in the community.

I commend the Tánaiste on his role in setting up a shared island unit. It has become obvious to me that not everyone in Northern Ireland, or indeed on this island, is defined by the colour of the flag, or the tradition of unionist or nationalist, with which they identify. A lot of people are concerned about the well-being of the entire island, and in that regard it is great to see that another brand of politics on this island discusses issues such as childcare, housing, education and everything else, including climate change, as I heard clearly when I was in Northern Ireland. I want to see a border poll and reunification in my lifetime but it has to happen at the right time. The worry is that if we move too soon, we will end up with a scenario such as that in Scotland, where there will be a once-in-a-lifetime referendum, never to be repeated. We want to see the Northern Ireland Executive working again.

I was thinking the other evening about the 800 years of bloodshed and societal division this island had to endure, with all the hurt that brought for everyone but especially for the people of Northern Ireland. That should not be forgotten in this 2023 context. World leaders such as Vladimir Putin may think they can seamlessly bring tanks over a border, take over a country and expect everything to be hunky-dory but it simply does not work like that. As Patrick Pearse stated at the grave of O'Donovan Rossa, "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace", and that mantra can be applied to any country. Shame on any world leader who, in this day and age, the age of enlightenment in 2023, thinks he can roll tanks over an international border, subvert a people, kidnap children and lead another world conflict. It simply does not work, and the trauma and impact of it is long lasting.

Deputy Joe Flaherty

I thank my party colleague for sharing time. In recent weeks, we have heard multiple times about how an entire generation has grown up without ever knowing the strife, murder and carnage that dominated the 1970s through to the early 1990s. We rightly celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and the principal architects of an agreement that ultimately brought to an end one of Europe's most deadly and enduring campaigns of violence. Across the world, our efforts inspired many other countries mired in strife and turmoil with an enduring message of hope. Building a permanent peace and prosperity, shared by all on this island, must remain an essential and foundational role of all political leaderships.

In recent weeks, we have rightly lauded so many of the personalities who devoted their lives' work to the attainment of peace on this island, most notable among them John Hume and Seamus Mallon. Having grown up, however, in the shadow of one of the early architects of the peace we now enjoy on this island, it would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity to single out the vision, belief and determination of one man, Albert Reynolds. Sadly, his tenure as Taoiseach was all too short, but on the night he took over as leader of our party, Fianna Fáil, he told those closest to him that he was absolutely committed and determined to achieve peace on the island of Ireland. It was a determination and resolve dismissed as fanciful by many, yet in December of this year, we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Downing Street Declaration. Everyone agrees it was the bedrock of the Good Friday Agreement and an important and decisive first step that would never have happened had it not been for Albert Reynolds. It was the Downing Street Declaration that underpinned the right of the people of Ireland to self-determination and to the promise that Northern Ireland would be transferred to the Republic of Ireland from the United Kingdom only if a majority of the population was in favour of such a move. The joint declaration also pledged that the Governments would seek a peaceful and constitutional settlement and promised that all parties linked with paramilitaries could take part in talks as long as they abandoned violence. A subsequent joint statement issued by Gerry Adams and John Hume was at the time considered sufficient by the IRA leadership for it to announce a ceasefire on 31 August 1994. This, in turn, was followed on 13 October by the announcement of a ceasefire by the loyalist leadership.

Albert Reynolds was born in Roosky, a stone's throw from Longford town and an area very familiar to Deputy Martin Kenny. When he was appointed in 1979 as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, which now seems like a very old-fashioned title, his good friend from Longford town, Mickey Doherty, was dispatched from Longford to tell Albert's elderly mother that he had been appointed as a Minister, because the family did not have a phone in the house. Nevertheless, within a few years, Ireland boasted one of the best telephone networks in Europe, thanks to Albert Reynolds's determination and vision. We rightly celebrate the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, but the hope is that come December, we will in turn celebrate the Downing Street Declaration and the monumental achievements of one Albert Reynolds.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I am grateful to have an opportunity to speak on this important subject, although I do not know whether the short duration allocated for the interventions is appropriate in light of its importance. We should have a much longer debate to allow us to go into the nuances of the agreement, what it was intended to do, what it has done and what remains to be done.

I am not going to get into the area of blaming anybody for what some see as a becalming of the Good Friday Agreement. It was said to be a work in progress when the signatories all sat down and signed it, and so it was. Mind you, that work in progress continued under the aegis of all the signatories in this country, in particular, and those from outside it, and support was always there. As was noted in the speeches of President Biden, Tony Blair and all others involved in its recent marking, the agreement still has to be worked on and progressed, so the question remains as to how we should progress it.

We may have missed a few opportunities. We need to change our attitude, look at matters again and support people of all persuasions across this island in any effort that can be made to bring them closer together.

There is a suggestion that it is premature to talk about a united Ireland because you cannot unite an island; you have to unite the people on the island. The people on the island will always react to whatever surrounds them, motivates them and sometimes threatens them. The question of a border poll was raised at an early stage. It was unfortunate. It was a mistake. It had the effect of driving the possibility of a continued peace process further and further away. For now, we need to look at it in the current context. We need to reassure those on all sides, North and South, that there is a much more to be gained by bringing them closer and closer together, allowing and encouraging them to work together and ensuring that we can intervene positively in every way possible in order to ensure that the agreement progresses. We need to do this with a new urgency and alacrity. It will prove itself quickly. For example, only a few years ago when there was curiosity on the part of all sides in Northern Ireland as to what would happen in certain situations, an opinion poll taking in the views of the people of this island was published. That poll was conducted in 2016, the centenary of the 1916 Rising. People were asked if they would contribute more in their taxes in the event of a united Ireland. Some 62.5% of those polled said they would not. That was not a positive result. It was not helpful. We need to convince people here that there are huge benefits to be gained from the two economies coming together and the people coming together and working together.

I compliment the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and previous taoisigh on all the work they have done. They know full well the need to keep the pressure on to ensure that we progress.

I would warn against changing the focus. I refer to the fact that it was the Good Friday Agreement, then it became the Belfast Agreement and now we have the Windsor Framework. In any negotiation, when the name changes, the focus changes and, as a result, things that we want to happen do not necessarily happen.

Deputy Patricia Ryan

Today, we mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. This historic agreement, which was signed on 10 April 1998, has been a cornerstone of the peace process on this island. It is a testament to the commitment of all parties involved to end the conflict that had plagued our island for far too long and to heal the wounds of the sectarianism that resulted from the partition of the island by a foreign power. The agreement offered hope and a pathway towards a better future for all communities, however they identify themselves. It has helped to build trust between communities and fostered greater co-operation and understanding between our neighbouring groups.

It is a matter of deep regret that the Executive in the North has collapsed despite good-faith engagement on the part of most parties involved. Since Sinn Féin's historic election result in May of 2022, the DUP has refused to return to government in the North. This has left all people in the North without a functioning Executive. The consequences of this are serious and far-reaching, with key decisions left unmade, services left undelivered and the future post-Brexit impacts uncertain.

Sinn Féin recognises that the current political impasse cannot continue. It is time for all stakeholders to recommit to the Good Friday Agreement and its principles of power-sharing, equality and mutual respect. I urge all parties to come to the table and engage in meaningful dialogue to seek to find a way forward and to restore the Executive in the North. We also believe that the Good Friday Agreement needs to be strengthened and built on. Successive agreements show us that there are still challenges that need to be addressed, such as the legacy of the past and the need to build a more inclusive society, but we are confident that with the right approach we can overcome these challenges and build a better future for everyone on this island.

The Good Friday Agreement has brought peace to our island, but it is a fragile peace that needs to be nurtured and protected. As we mark the 25th anniversary of this historic agreement, let us renew our commitment to its principles and work together to ensure that it continues to deliver for all communities north and south of the Border.

Deputy Martin Kenny

What happened 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement brought all sides together to work out a better future was a landmark for this island. I certainly was much younger then but, like many others, I was running around at the time trying to convince people of the merits of the agreement and explain what it was about. I also tried to explain how we could advance the possibility of a better Ireland - an Ireland in which people would no longer have to die, in which nobody would be in jail anymore, in which we would have a better future and in which we could work out our differences in a peaceful way. By and large, much of that has happened. We must recognise the achievements of the agreement and that we had major advances across the island. However, there still is a great deal of work to do. There are still many differences and difficulties to overcome. The central issue is that we have to try to get people to understand that we need dialogue, discussion and argument - and sometimes fraught argument - that we need to have. We do not argue for the sake of getting one up on each other; we do so to make progress. That is what we have to do.

The Tánaiste is here. I commend the Government on the work it is doing. The former Taoiseach, the late Albert Reynolds, was mentioned earlier. Mr. Reynolds did significant work in respect of this matter, as did former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and many others who were in the House at the time. People on the republican side, former Deputy Gerry Adams and the former Deputy First Minister, the late Martin McGuinness, led a movement that had for so long fought a battle against the British occupation of Ireland to a new way forward. What they achieved in that regard is often overlooked. I was present and saw how they had to convince people that there was a better way forward. They did that, and they won the arguments. They did so because they said they had an international agreement that stood up to scrutiny, that was backed by the European Union and the US, and that both Governments had signed up to. They also stated that they had the weight of the world behind them in the context of creating a better way forward. The agreement has become a template for those in conflict zones around the world to look at in the context of finding a way forward.

The peace that has, by and large, marked the past 25 years is something we can rejoice in. However, there is a certain amount of unfinished work. We still have to try and get a sense of togetherness, reconciliation and recognition that the past is the past but that we have to live with the consequences of it. This means that we have to come out openly and work out a better future. We can do that.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Martin Kenny

We can do that together. The Good Friday Agreement is the template for that. We must not move away from it.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Shanahan, who is sharing time with Deputy Tóibín.

Deputy Matt Shanahan

The Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998. It was a seismic agreement that ended decades of violence that had pitched extreme elements within communities against one another based on ideas of religion, inequality, the retention of political power and the perception of ethnic identity through the prism of the past. The agreement paved the way for the development of a new understanding based on the recognition of an opportunity for all and the acceptance that inequality breeds discontent. It enshrined a recognition of the need for mutual respect and a need for citizens to share an ability to influence public and political policy and effect social and political change.

Since 1998, the Good Friday Agreement has charted a way to deliver for all the people of Northern Ireland an opportunity and a mandate that reflects the greater wishes of the majority of the Northern Ireland people. However, the path has not been without its obstacles. Just as the late John Hume, the former deputy First Minister, the late Seamus Mallon, the former First Minister, the late David Trimble, and others struggled to see the Good Friday Agreement realise a permanent, peaceful and prosperous solution to the Northern Ireland question, for us, the issues of Brexit have come into sharp relief. These issues have led to the latest stumbling block to advancing the aspirations to equitable power-sharing and equitable voices for all the communities in the North of Ireland.

The economic truth, as the Tánaiste will be aware, is that the North of Ireland is doing well, and very well potentially, under the structure of the Windsor Framework. The benefits already accruing to the North of Ireland can be seen in the past 24 months of economic data and have been referenced by many in Northern Ireland business. The prize of advancing prosperity is also to advance the well-being and the economic opportunity for each and every individual in the North of Ireland.

The recent visit of President Biden clearly showed the international commitment that exists to support the Northern economy as it continues to emerge and movement away from the hateful events of the past. That economic development has to be fundamentally structured on a political governance that is strong and that recognises the difference in analysis between the points of view but wishes to arrive at the same understanding and outcome for the benefit of all in Northern Ireland.

The current logjam in reconvening the Stormont Assembly and the Northern Ireland institutions is one of political will, in my opinion, and it requires significant movement of political leaders' attitudes and beliefs. The historic narrative of Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley working together to improve the lives of the people of the North of Ireland is what politicians must hold onto and not the banners of the past, which were of their time but must now be dispensed with.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

For the last few weeks, the political establishment, North and South, has been celebrating the Good Friday Agreement. For sure, the Good Friday Agreement was a landmark agreement which brought to an end decades of horror and violence. Thousands of people are alive today as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. We must celebrate it for happening. It was amazing that it happened. In my youth, the violence in the North seemed intractable. It seemed there were a number of situations around the world, such as in Palestine and the North, that would never be fixed and would go on for generations. Thankfully, through the work of so many people, that violence came to an end.

The elephant in the room is that the Good Friday Agreement is currently not operational. That is important to say and to understand. The institutions central to the Good Friday Agreement are, for the most part, broken. They are in tatters on the floor. The Assembly has collapsed, the Executive is AWOL and the North-South Ministerial Council is defunct. The recent celebrations of the Good Friday Agreement were akin to having a birthday party for a person who no longer has a pulse. It is a bad reflection on our generation of politics that we have been given such a valuable thing and we have allowed it to break up and fall apart. The Good Friday Agreement is not a living agreement at the moment. I believe that responsibility lies squarely at the door of the British and Irish Governments. The North is being held to ransom by the "un-Democratic Unionist Party". This is being allowed to happen by the British and Irish Governments, which are supposed to be the guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement but are not guaranteeing anything at the moment. That political paralysis has enormous societal costs.

The North of Ireland is in the middle of a major political and economic crisis. It is seldom debated here in the South. Families are being hammered by an ever-increasing cost-of-living crisis. Some 480,000 people are on hospital waiting lists in the North of Ireland at the moment. Hospitals are shedding life and death services. Maternity services are being lost in Causeway Hospital. The accident and emergency service has been lost in Enniskillen hospital. Emergency surgery services have been lost in Daisy Hill Hospital. The five Stormont parties all signed up to service centralisation and these parties are now standing idly by when hospitals are under threat. Indeed, Michelle O'Neill was Minister of Health when she launched the blueprint for centralisation, the Bengoa report. Michelle O'Neill said at the time that she admitted that people would have to travel further for healthcare. She said there would be investment in hospital capacity, primary care and step-down facilities with that centralisation. Of course, none of that has come to pass. I pay credit to Gemma Brolly, who is the chairperson of the SOS Causeway Hospital campaign, and all of those fighting for hospital services in the North of Ireland at the moment.

Some 300,000 people are living in poverty and 45,000 people are on housing waiting lists. Key public servants are being forced to strike day in, day out. Today, teachers across the Six Counties are out of their classrooms and on the pickets due to the fact that they have the worst wages that exist in Ireland or Britain at the moment. On top of this, we have an incredible situation whereby the British Government is now threatening an austerity budget on the people of the North of Ireland, which could be up to 20% of the budget that is already there. We are starting at a horrendous place with regard to public expenditure, yet the threat is to cut it.

One of the political issues that really frustrates me is that in this time where the parties of the North are not sitting in Stormont, are not doing their job to fix the issues, and have taken a wage of £4 million since the election, the only political action that they have taken is to jack up the rates for struggling families across the North of Ireland. Sinn Féin, the DUP, the SDLP and the Alliance Party have jacked up the rates on families who can hardly feed themselves. If it was Fianna Fáil raising the rates on families in such economic difficulty, Sinn Féin in the South would be hammering it left, right and centre, and rightly so, yet Sinn Féin has been at the heart of raising those rates in the North of Ireland for people who cannot afford to pay them.

This Government needs a change of direction. We need to reform Stormont so no party, whether the DUP, Sinn Féin or anybody else, can crash it. We need to stop the wages of MLAs who will not do their job. Nobody should get paid for that length of time when they are refusing to do their jobs. We need to devolve taxation powers from London to the North of Ireland so that the North of Ireland has the levers necessary to create an economic environment so that it can create jobs and good wages for young people so that they can raise their families here in Ireland and so that we have the funds to invest in housing, health and education. For the last eight years, Stormont has had the power to change corporation taxes, but it has not had the ambition to do so. Unfortunately, there is still the politics of dependency on the block grant in the North. It is akin to a landlord of old coming over to Ireland and throwing the money in the air and the local politicians scrummaging on the ground to pick up what they can. We need to change that political attitude.

We need the political system here to change too. We have brought about a Bill so that Northern MPs would have the right to speak in the Dáil. Nothing is stopping it. We have brought about a Bill to create a commission of investigation into British collusion. Next week, we will bring about a Bill which will mandate the Irish Government to bring the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights if it proceeds with the legacy Bill. The legacy Bill is a kick in the stomach for the Good Friday Agreement. This Government needs to fight the legacy Bill tooth and nail because it is an amnesty for British murder in Ireland.

Deputy Emer Higgins

I am delighted to be speaking today to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. For a whole generation of young people in Ireland, the Troubles is a period of Ireland's history. It is a time to be remembered, studied and to learn from but it is a time of our past. Thanks to the historic agreement, there is now a whole new generation who have only ever known peace. That is an outcome that many signatories of the Good Friday Agreement could only have dreamed of at the height of the Troubles. For all the limitations of the Good Friday Agreement, we know we are all better off for the peace it has brought to our Ireland. I remember being a primary school student when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. Even at that young age, there was a huge sense of excitement among my generation and classmates. We probably did not fully grasp the gravity of what was happening but there was a palpable feeling of optimism and hope in the air. Even during the times when hope has waned over the past 25 years, the strength of the Good Friday Agreement has endured. Ultimately, peace has prevailed.

A 25-year anniversary was no doubt something that the key signatories of the Good Friday Agreement could only have dared to hope for. That is why the recent events in Belfast and in Queen's University have been so especially encouraging. They have been a moment to stop and take stock of how far we have come. It has generated a renewed sense of optimism for what is yet to come. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the political leaders, without whom the Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday Agreement could not have been achieved. Leaders like John Hume and David Trimble were key architects of the peace process. Others included Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair, Mo Mowlam, David Andrews, Bill Clinton and so many others. They are people who represented the epitome of leadership, mediation, compromise and honest sacrifice for the greater common good.

Of course, all of this recent celebration of the Good Friday Agreement only serves to highlight the fact that, today, Northern Ireland has no sitting Government. Power-sharing, which is a key hallmark of this agreement, is absent. I know no one feels the impact of an absent Government more than the people of Northern Ireland. They are people who now, more than ever, regardless of political affiliation, need their political representatives to advocate for them, legislate for them and take their seats in their parliament. It is vital that power-sharing is restored for the people of Northern Ireland. I cannot speak for the people of Northern Ireland or their political parties, nor should or would I. I know they are facing the same challenges that we are in the Republic with regard to cost of living, housing, healthcare and the climate crisis. In the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, that same example of leadership, mediation, negotiation and sacrifice is needed right now from all sides of the political spectrum.

It is needed to get power-sharing back up and running and to restore the institutions to allow the work of the Good Friday Agreement to continue.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

When I think of a united Ireland, I think of my grandfather, James Feely, who 100 years ago was released from Mountjoy on the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He was commander of the north Roscommon brigade of the old IRA and fought for a united Ireland.

When we consider a united Ireland now, it is very different 100 years on. Ireland joined the European Community, along with the UK, 50 years ago. It was a seismic change to the way our two countries interacted. On average, 26 meetings a day are held between Irish officials and politicians in Europe. That is what brought on the goodwill and partnership that brought about the Anglo-Irish Agreement between Garret FitzGerald and Margaret Thatcher. That agreement gave us an advisory role in regard to Northern Ireland. I also acknowledge the Downing Street Declaration between John Major and Albert Reynolds and the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed by Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair. I thank John Hume, David Trimble, Bill Clinton and many more. I always believed the United States have been the guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. In addition, the involvement of the EU in the context of our membership of it, in what has probably been the most successful peace agreement, has been incredible.

People talk about an agreed Ireland and a united Ireland. It is not a one-way street. If we are to have an agreed Ireland, we in the Republic have to give up things as well. People ask me what unionism is. Unionism favours a political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British crown and constitution. It is not palatable but we are talking about flags, anthems and maybe working closely with the Commonwealth of Nations. It is not a one-way street. An agreed Ireland will not happen unless we are prepared to give up some aspects of our own Republic.

I remember the bad times. Two things happened in my constituency that I will always remember. One was the shooting of Private Patrick Kelly and Garda Gary Sheehan in Ballinamore in 1983. These are things you remember. There is another aspect. In 1989, Harold Keyes, a former member of the RUC, was shot dead in Ballintra, south Donegal, in front of his girlfriend. These are things we try to forget but must remember because, like volunteers and other people, they had families, friends and the whole lot. Thankfully, the brave people who stood up to sign the Good Friday Agreement have stopped those awful killings and awful tragedies. We look forward to a much better and more inclusive Ireland, one that is very different from that my grandfather and others fought for. I welcome that.

Deputy Brian Leddin

I am proud to be a member of a 32-county party. I am also proud that my primary sport is a 32-county sport, which is the sport of rowing. Many Members might have thought I would say rugby as I am from County Limerick but that is my second sport. On Good Friday 1998, I was with the Ireland rowing squad in Enniskillen on the River Erne in County Fermanagh. I was rowing with young lads my age from throughout this island. I remember at night we stayed on an island on the River Erne near Enniskillen. We stayed in dormitories at an activity centre there. Young lads from the North, who were rowers like me, were there. Each night, they would crowd around the radio to listen to the proceedings from Stormont. For me, as somebody from Limerick, I did not quite understand the significance of those talks that weekend but I talked to them about it. Interestingly, two of those lads who were listening to the progress at Stormont on the radio at night-time were from either side of the community in the North. The sport of rowing, much like many sports in this country, has shown that the two communities can work together.

The Good Friday Agreement is the political manifestation of the possibility of our communities being able to work together. The year 1998 was also the year of Drumcree and the Ormeau Road. You could be forgiven for thinking we would never have peace on this island but we have substantial peace now thanks to the efforts of many Members of this House, and the efforts of members of the two communities in Northern Ireland and the British Government at the time. There can be no going back because to do so is going back to a very dark and horrible place. We should remember that peace is not just about the absence of death or injury. It is also about prosperity. If we are to have a prosperous country, we need to build on the Good Friday Agreement. We need to show all our citizens and every member of all communities in this country that prosperity is only possible through peace. It behoves us to reach out to unionism in particular to show unionists have nothing to fear and everything to gain from continued peace on this island and working together.

The story of Ireland, in many ways, is a sad one. Going back many centuries, it is a story of stagnant economic development, emigration, bitter politics and poor local government. All these things are linked to sectarianism and the lack of peace that has existed. For the past quarter century, we have managed to substantially shake off the shackles of the past. For the next quarter century, half century and beyond, we need to build further because with that peace will come incredible prosperity for this country. We have huge ability as a people and if we work together, we will realise that.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I am glad the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is present. In the short time available to me, I will mention that I wear the badge of Liam Lynch who died 100 years ago and effectively brought about the end of the Civil War, which was great. When the Minister comes to Tiobraid Árann, I will bring him to the Knockmealdown Mountains to see the fine memorial to Liam Lynch. My late dad was the clerk of works at the time it was erected. He was also in prison for 14 months during the War of Independence and fought alongside Liam Lynch and others.

To come to the peace process and the work that was done, we can mention many people. Deputy Haughey mentioned Fr. Alec Reid coming to his house in Kinsealy years ago. I will mention Dr. Martin Mansergh and the late Fr. Reid of Clonard Monastery and formerly of Nenagh. Councillor Séamie Morris has asked for a long time to have Fr. Reid acknowledged in his home town of Nenagh. We must do so. Mo Mowlam and Bertie Ahern should never be forgotten - as we all know, he had to leave his mother's funeral to conclude the peace deal - in addition to many others, including John Hume, David Trimble and Sinn Féin leaders. I visited Stormont recently. It is an eerie place with the Ofig an Chéad-Aire closed and locked up. It is an eerie place and it is sad. We must also think of the people, Fr. Reid and his colleagues in Clonard Monastery.

We must also remember that Fr. Reid negotiated during the Basque war in Spain and helped there. He dedicated his life to peace. He also tried to end the first hunger strike and was devastated and took it very badly when the second hunger strike commenced. He was very down and out over that. He did so much work and dedicated his life to having meetings. He did many things, including negotiating the release of people who were kidnapped and everything else. A fitting tribute should be put in place. I call on Tipperary County Council, the museum, the Arts Council and everybody else to look at a memorial to the late Fr. Alec Reid in the town of Nenagh, County Tipperary. He was one of many who played a huge part, and he definitely did, alongside former Minister of State, Dr. Martin Mansergh.

That must be acknowledged and it should be done in memory of a great man.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae

I say a heartfelt thanks again to all the people who worked so diligently from all political parties and none. There were people we can call the headline players whose names were instantly recognisable. I like to be parochial about things. I will remember fondly a man from Kerry who did Trojan work quietly and in the background, but in a thoughtful and hardworking and diligent way. He is a retired Deputy of the House, Martin Ferris from County Kerry. He certainly put his shoulder to the wheel for a long period of time. It was a long hard slog for him, for people such as Bertie Ahern, for all the people from Fine Gael and all the political parties. Many of them have gone to their eternal reward, but they can do so knowing their political work has ensured people who would still have been dying today are not. Children have grown up to be fine adults who never saw the Troubles and the reason they are alive today is the political work of those people in the past. No one can ever underestimate the importance of that. No one can quantify it. The children and grandchildren are here. I do not care if it was the people of Fine Gael, the people of Fianna Fáíl, John Hume or the people of Sinn Féin. All the different groups came together and worked hard for a long time. They gave selflessly of their time and were unified. It was a troublesome journey and, to this day, it can be shaky and so on. However, I always say when there are troubles in life, if they could do what they did in the North, surely we can get things right now. Politically, we should be able to use the workings of politics to put conflict aside. There should be no place for violence, death or maiming people. We should be able to sort out our problems politically and learn from the good people who served us well in the past.

Deputy Carol Nolan

I welcome the opportunity to reflect briefly on the Good Friday Agreement. I will also take this opportunity to commend the work of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which has done some interesting work in this area. It is particularly worth highlighting the committee's report and its assessment of the legacy of the Troubles on victims. The committee has noted that in most of its sessions, it sought the views of witnesses and spoke about the treatment of victims. Members also expressed grave concern about the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. As I understand it, this Bill would allow the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to grant immunity in certain circumstances for crimes committed during the Troubles. The Bill is opposed by all political parties in Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as all major victims' advocacy groups. This highlights that the work of the Good Friday Agreement, even on its 25th anniversary, is far from complete. I and my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group have often highlighted the delays in bringing justice to the victims of the Omagh bombing. The wheels of justice turn slowly for victims and that is something we must address going forward.

Collaboration and a spirit of friendship between our two islands is hugely important and is far too precious to be subjected to the kind of political game-playing we have seen in recent years in respect of the failure of power sharing. We must continue to do all we can to strengthen cross-Border structures. Each part of our island can benefit from the ingenuity and skills of the other. As a republican, I look forward to the day when our country is whole and entire once again, as long as that is backed by and happens through democratic means that respect all traditions.

Deputy Marian Harkin

The Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998 has provided a basic infrastructure within which we on this island can build and sustain peace. The institutions created by the Good Friday Agreement are largely political. Many are not functioning now, and that is a huge loss. These institutions provide a framework within which we can find ways to live together on this small island. Of course we recognise our differences, but we do not allow difference or division to set the political, social or economic agenda.

I will not attempt to list the many names of those who contributed to putting this agreement in place. It is a long list and an honourable one. To all of those people on all sides and from all traditions, I say a heartfelt thank you. As a Deputy who is proud to represent a number of Border counties, I thank them for helping us to bring our lives back to normal and for giving people real hope for the present and that the future can be much better than the past. In any major achievement, there are always unsung heroes whose contributions matter. One group I will mention is the families of those who were murdered or maimed and who asked, indeed begged, that there would be no retaliation. That kind of bravery is remarkable. Even in the midst of their awful grief, they were able to see that their society and locality could only flourish in peace. While we quite rightly praise the names of those who contributed to achieving the landmark agreement, we must not forget the communities and families who are helping to sustain the Good Friday Agreement.

The strength of the Good Friday Agreement can be seen in how it withstood the ravages of Brexit. Time and again, I remember how in the European Parliament we were able to reiterate our support for the Good Friday Agreement. It was like a bulwark or a protection based on the democratic preferences of people on both sides of the Border. We could cling to that protection to help us navigate the dangerous waters of Brexit. It was extremely valuable in that circumstance.

I will refer to an issue that is close to my heart. I am not sure whether anyone else has referred to it today. I have not managed to hear all of the debate. It is something I have supported for a long time, that is, the promotion of integrated education in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement commits to facilitating and encouraging integrated education as an essential part of creating a culture of tolerance at every level of society. When we speak of progress since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, we sometimes do not pay enough attention to the fact that the number of students who attend integrated schools has risen very slowly. In 1998, that figure was approximately 2.4% of the student population. Now it is only 8%. On one level, it could be said that numbers in integrated education have tripled, but in reality fewer than one in 12 students attend an integrated school and sit in an integrated classroom.

Not all the political institutions and not all the political parties are keeping up with the wishes of the people in Northern Ireland as many integrated schools are oversubscribed. Some parents are unable to send their children to integrated schools although they wish to do so. Under the Fresh Start agreement, which aimed to implement the Stormont House Agreement fully, £500 million sterling was provided by the British Government to ensure the progress of integrated education. That was back in 2016. A little more than 10% of that funding has been spent. Why is this the case? What is the rationale for this huge underspend of moneys that would provide shared spaces in schools, places where students could attend every day and explore their own lives and those of their classmates, places where they would have the opportunity to gain understanding of one another's backgrounds and traditions and, crucially, places where they could grow together and find shared aspirations, hopes and ways of living?

Integrated education is not a silver bullet but it is a solid foundation on which an integrated society can be built.

I have heard many people speak about border polls and a citizens' assembly as a preparation for a united Ireland. While that is certainly part of the picture, putting the roof on a house in which the foundations are not fully stable is not a wise move and not in the immediate future. Part of stabilising those foundations will be the promotion of integrated education by all political parties. Not only will it help to build a more cohesive society, it will help to implement the Good Friday Agreement.

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications (Deputy Eamon Ryan)

I am very privileged to make the closing contribution to what has been a very important debate. The issue of our co-operation and future on this island together is central to many Deputies in this House. The contributions throughout the afternoon were heartfelt, not from any script but from people's lived experiences. They reflect the importance of restoring the institutions in Northern Ireland and building on the peace that has existed for the past 25 years. I am honoured on behalf of the Government to make these closing remarks.

I was fortunate to be in Belfast last weekend. I attended some of the events organised by Queen's University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. I was particularly glad to meet General John de Chastelain, who was remarkably impressive and who, along with Harri Holkeri, the former Finnish Prime Minister, and George Mitchell, had a central role. If anyone wants some understanding of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, I recommend setting aside the 45 minutes George Mitchell took to review what happened in his speech at Queen's University on Monday last week. It was a remarkably succinct, clear, impartial and, in the end, hopeful speech. He started by setting out the history that led to the Good Friday Agreement. He spared nothing in making sure, as best he could, to mention each person who played a key role. He recognised the work of Bertie Ahern, who was in attendance, the Irish civil servants who were part of the negotiating team, going right back to John Bruton's time and before, in terms of the patient, diplomatic way in which the Irish Civil Service and politicians approached this issue. He gave similar due respect, attention and thanks to Tony Blair and the British Civil Service. In the working out of this agreement, the two formed an incredibly strong bond, which it is important we hold on to. It was a most important speech in going through all of the different parties involved, recognising the immense role of John Hume, in a sense reframing the approach of Irish nationalism, in my mind, in the way he did. What was most inspiring and impressive was that he handed ownership back of the Good Friday Agreement to the parties in Northern Ireland, who were the signatories and, ultimately, to the people of Northern Ireland, who voted for it and stood by it - all parties, Sinn Féin, loyalists, unionists, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition and every different grouping. It was an appropriate marking of the 25th anniversary.

We also had a role in the South. I heard Deputy Nolan, among others, say she comes from a republican tradition - I sense the same, as do many others. My grandfather, who I was very close to, fought in the War of Independence. It was in my DNA, and the desire still is, for a united Ireland. I remember that day when the constitutional amendment and the question was put to us regarding ceding Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. I felt proud and part of the process because we too were, and are now, centrally involved. It was effectively a reframing of the position which gave us a real role. If that vote were to be put to the people today, I am certain in the South that a similar overwhelming majority would support the Good Friday Agreement and love to see it fully implemented in all its guises.

The truth, which I see in my everyday work in the Dáil and in Departments, is that our island is still very divided. Our power systems are divided, to start with, with a very basic connection. The energy system we have is not properly connected. As the Deputy knows from living in a Border county, we do not have good cross-Border transport systems. The environment recognises no border but it is to a certain extent ignored in the Good Friday Agreement and even in the Brexit agreement regarding the exit of the UK from the European Union. The healing of those divisions is now our key responsibility. The mechanism the Tánaiste, who was here a short while ago, devised with ourselves in the Green Party and Fine Gael in government of a shared-island approach is the appropriate way to fulfil our constitutional commitment, which we voted on in the period of the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago, to deliver practical connections to heal the divisions, not on the basis of identity or in a political, party political, nationalist or unionist way, but in practical measures that bring our island together. Recognising we have east-west connections as well as North-South, we must repair the damage done by Brexit to our relations with the United Kingdom and have similar co-operation and agreement on issues such as the environment and energy - my area. I see that as being as important and it may help us overcome some of the divisions on a North-South basis.

Like so many others in the House, I also am impatient and interested in seeing the institutions return. We are an all-island party. We are connected to what happens up North. We are out canvassing door to door to get members of the Green Party in Northern Ireland elected in the upcoming local elections. I see no reason following why we should not see restoration of the institutions, recognising, as our party does, that the institutions also need to be reformed. We cannot just keep everything in stasis because the institutional arrangements are not functioning. The fact that for nine of the 25 years, the assembly was not sitting and the institutions were not in place is the first obvious critique we would have to make of what was agreed 25 years ago. It is not that we just keep it in aspic; we must keep reviewing. There is an urgent need for reform, but that first requires the assembly to return to give political ownership back to the people who have responsibilities in doing that, which are the parties and people in Northern Ireland.

I will conclude by going back to George Mitchell's message. He said, "Within the word impossible is embedded the word 'possible'". It is an obvious pun, but there was a kernel of real political truth in what he said. That is a good way to conclude this debate. He spoke with real optimism. In a world in which we are riven by such conflict, in which social media and other news systems are all about division and despair and a slightly depressed view of circumstances, he could not have been more confident, upbeat and positive. In particular, his positivity was centred around real admiration for the people in Northern Ireland. He went out of his way to listen with respect. In that listening and providing dignity, he won everyone's trust to be able to come to an agreement that no one thought possible. We need a similar culture, characteristic or approach today. We need to optimistically, confidently and with dignity and respect approach the living out potential, so to speak, delivered by the Good Friday Agreement. We do that not in confrontation, pointing the finger or in blame, but in recognising the strengths on this island, North and South, valuing them and trusting the people in the North, especially the parties, to return to that special moment when people came together, signed and voted for a future that brought peace, thank God, but also brought an end to centuries of division. That is why it was so important. We need now to build on that and build in the next 25 years a shared island that we can all be proud of.

An Ceann Comhairle

That now concludes statements on the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. I congratulate everyone who partook.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 4.21 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 5.21 p.m.

Sitting suspended at 4.21 p.m. and resumed at 5.21 p.m.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 26 Apr 2023

Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Statements

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Apr 2023