Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 October 2014
75. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his Department will pursue the implementation of all aspects of the political agreements entered into since Good Friday 1998 in respect of the peace and political processes, as part of the newly convened all-party talks on Northern Ireland. [37869/14]
View answerI congratulate the Minister and the Ministers of State on their elevation to their new jobs and I look forward to working with them. I welcome the Minister's statement that the British and Irish Governments are to initiate all-party talks. There is a growing sense of crisis in the North and it requires an immediate response. Will the Minister outline a date to begin all-party talks? He stated he is unsure but that he hopes it will be in the next two weeks. Unionists have sought to limit the role of the Irish Government and the agenda. The British Government continues to threaten the Executive with fines over welfare cuts.
I ask the Minister to ensure the talks take place in an atmosphere free from preconditions and threats and that the agenda will include the issues outstanding from previous agreements, including Haass-O'Sullivan, powers and budgets for the North, as well as the operation of the institutions.
The Government is firmly of the view that all commitments undertaken in political agreements from the Good Friday Agreement onwards must be fully implemented by the relevant stakeholders. The Government remains committed to fulfilling all its responsibilities under the agreements.
The Deputy will be aware that the Good Friday Agreement, as well as the values and principles underpinning it, is at the core of the Government’s approach to peace, reconciliation and prosperity on this island. Implementing outstanding elements of the Good Friday Agreement, as well as the other agreements of the peace process, is a priority for the Government. Among the elements of the Agreement yet to be implemented are the establishment of a North-South consultative forum, a Bill of Rights and an Irish language Act. The Government’s priority is to ensure that the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement function effectively to the benefit of all.
I do not envisage that there will be preconditions or threats. I envisage an opportunity for all parties to come together with the assistance, encouragement and support on an ongoing and active basis of the two Governments jointly.
The St. Andrews Agreement provided for a review of the North-South Implementation Bodies and areas for further co-operation. The first part of the St. Andrew’s Agreement review is now largely completed. This involved examining the bodies in terms of efficiency and value for money. Part two of the review involved expanding the areas for North-South co-operation in line with the decision at the North-South Ministerial Council plenary meeting in November 2013.
As I set out in my previous reply, given the current political impasse in Northern Ireland, I am strongly of the view that these talks are necessary. As I said in reply to Deputy Smith, the format and agenda are yet to be agreed, but work is at an advanced stage to ensure all the issues, including those Deputy Crowe mentioned, are fully examined with a view to ensuring that normal politics takes place within Northern Ireland.
Sinn Féin is ready for the talks. We will enter them to resolve outstanding issues and we will always abide by any agreements made. We have lived up to all our commitments in the past and sought to promote peace and reconciliation, inclusion and equality. We have tried to work with all parties and none in the institutions in good faith, and we are committed to the whole idea of power sharing. However, there is an agenda within political unionism that is being driven, it would appear, by an anti-Agreement axis and the unwillingness of the leadership of political unionism to share power is undermining the agreements.
We are concerned that the British Government has assumed an explicitly partisan and pro-Unionist party stance and has been cosying up to Unionist politicians, which may be to do with the next election down the road. Did the Minister discuss this with the British Government? Will the Government act as a defender and a champion of progress in the North and hold the British Government to account for its failure to implement key aspects of the Agreement? These outstanding matters have come up repeatedly at meetings of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. We want to see clear progress in that regard. For too long we have stepped back and we need to move forward.
I place on record my appreciation of Deputy Crowe's comments on the talks. I acknowledge the positive engagement on the part of his party and the very important role the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, Mr. Martin McGuinness, MLA, will play in the process. I assure Deputies that the Government will continue to use all appropriate avenues to progress implementation of the outstanding elements of the Agreement. I refer specifically to the matters of a Bill of Rights, the civic forum and the Irish language Act. I have already taken up these issues directly with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Villiers, MP, and will continue to do so. I hope these issues will form an integral part of the talks process once they get under way in Belfast later this month.
I welcome what the Minister has said. The US Administration has talked about playing a constructive and meaningful role in supporting the talks process. During his trip to the US last week, did the Minister have formal discussions with members of the US Administration, and what role does he see for it in these talks?
The US Administration plays a very important role in respect of ongoing developments in Northern Ireland. In particular, I acknowledge its role in the lead-up to the historic signing of the Good Friday Agreement in the spring of 1998. I took the opportunity last week to have a productive and constructive meeting with the Vice President, Joe Biden, the Secretary of State, John Kerry, and other senior officials, during which I impressed upon them the need to continue their active engagement and refresh their interest in Northern Ireland.
In recent years, as the devolved institutions in the North went about implementing their own constitutional process and engaging actively in the community as an Executive and Assembly, it was perhaps appropriate that neither the United States nor other jurisdictions played a hands-on role. However, it is my considered view that we need the wider engagement that is expressed in the talks process, and I look forward to the continued active engagement of the United States Administration in encouraging, supporting and assisting matters. It has a very important role to play in ensuring we maximise the benefits under the Agreement for the entire community in Northern Ireland.
