Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 November 2023
53. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which he continues to liaise with all concerned, in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement, in the context of ensuring that interaction with communities is maintained and recognised as an important part of the peace process. [42533/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis year marked the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a transformative moment for the people of this island, the islands of Ireland and Great Britain, and the people of Northern Ireland in particular. The Agreement set a new, democratic framework for relationships between and within these islands.
The principles of the Good Friday Agreement underpins the work to restore Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions. It is a matter of enormous regret that they continue to be blocked eighteen months after the last Assembly election.
I am firmly committed to securing the effective implementation of all strands of the Good Friday Agreement. To this end I have prioritised engagement with all major stakeholders in Northern Ireland across politics and civil society. I have greatly appreciated these exchanges with diverse interlocutors. I have met with organisations supported by my Department’s Reconciliation Fund, with victims and survivor groups, with PSNI leadership, with business representatives, cultural institutions, and academics. I am determined to engage openly and honestly with voices from right across the community. In recent months I have appreciated being welcomed by the Orange Order and East Belfast GAA.
I meet and speak frequently with counterparts in the British Government and with Northern Ireland's party leaders. I spoke with the latter most recently at the end of October. I was left with a clear sense of the profound level of frustration at the decision of one party to block a return of the power-sharing institutions. The vast majority of elected representatives – national, unionist and neither – want to get back to work.
In my recent meeting with the Secretary of State of Northern Ireland at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce Conference on 12 October in Dublin, I raised the challenges of Executive Formation. I have been clear that the current situation cannot continue indefinitely and encouraged open, constructive dialogue between all parties.
Later this month we will host meetings of British Irish Council and British Irish Inter-Governmental Conference, which as the Deputy is aware are two of the Good Friday Agreement institutions that facilitate cooperation on an East-West basis. I look forward at those meetings to discussing with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how our governments can best work together to bring politics in Northern Ireland back to stability.
The upcoming meeting of the British Irish Inter-Governmental Conference will be the third such meeting this year, following a meeting in Dublin in January and another in London this June. The urgent task of restoring Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions will undoubtedly be a focus of my discussions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at this month's Conference.
As guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish and British Governments have a particular responsibility to see the Good Friday institutions operate as effectively as possible and delivering to the collective benefit of all of our citizens.
It is my firm view that progress towards a better, more reconciled, Northern Ireland is best delivered through partnership between the two Governments, on the basis of the commitments made in 1998.
