Brendan Smith
Question:29. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent telephone discussion with Prime Minister Sunak. [16769/24]
View answerWednesday, 8 May 2024
Questions (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
Brendan Smith
Question:30. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent discussions with the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. [16770/24]
View answerBrendan Smith
Question:31. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the recent British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. [18292/24]
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Bernard Durkan
Question:32. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent conversation with the British Prime Minister. [16765/24]
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Mary Lou McDonald
Question:33. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the recent British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. [20334/24]
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Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:34. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent conversation with the British Prime Minister. [20458/24]
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Paul Murphy
Question:35. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent conversation with the British Prime Minister. [20461/24]
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Bríd Smith
Question:36. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent conversation with the British Prime Minister. [20464/24]
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Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:37. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent discussions with the First Minister and deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive. [20536/24]
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Peadar Tóibín
Question:38. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent conversation with the British Prime Minister. [20539/24]
View answerOral answers (6 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 to 38, inclusive, together.
On 10 April I spoke by phone to the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. We each acknowledged the depth and the breadth of the British-Irish relationship and the value we attach to it. We discussed the positive leadership which the First Minister and deputy First Minister have shown since their appointment in February. We also discussed Ukraine and the urgency of the situation in Gaza. I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Sunak at the European political community meeting he will host in July.
Later that day, I also spoke by phone to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister. That day, 10 April, marked the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. I underlined the importance I attach to the role of the two Governments as co-guarantors of the agreement. I signalled my commitment to fulfilling my co-guarantor role in a positive spirit and to the full. We also discussed the meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council which had taken place in County Armagh two days earlier and the opportunity now, with the restoration of the Executive and the assembly, to intensify North-South co-operation in areas such as healthcare, tourism, infrastructure and innovation.
I was also pleased to visit Belfast last Friday, 3 May. I had a very constructive meeting with the First Minister and deputy First Minister in Stormont Castle, and I thank them for their time. We discussed a range of topics, including their budget, migration, opportunities for North-South co-operation, student mobility and existing shared island funding commitments, including for the A5 and the Ulster University Magee campus.
Following that meeting I was welcomed to Parliament Buildings in Stormont by Speaker, Edwin Poots, where I also had meetings with each of the other party leaders: Naomi Long, Doug Beattie and Colum Eastwood. These meetings were useful and productive, covering the Northern Ireland budget, legacy and the shared island youth forum.
On 15 April I was also very pleased to address the 66th plenary meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which took place in my home county of Wicklow on the theme of tourism. In my remarks to the assembly, I noted how, across our islands, we are fortunate to enjoy a strong tourism offering which is a major driver of growth, employment and regional development. I also more generally reaffirmed the Government's commitment to working to see relationships throughout these islands prosper further.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply.
I was pleased the Taoiseach accepted my invitation to address the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. His attendance, both on Sunday evening and Monday morning, was much appreciated by all the participants from all the different legislatures. As the Taoiseach said, the focus of our particular plenary was on tourism. We were dealing with the opportunities there are for further development of our tourism product on an all-Ireland basis and throughout these islands. I was glad we had a specific presentation from the cross-Border UNESCO global geopark, which is based in the Cuilcagh Mountains on the Cavan-Fermanagh border. It was the first UNESCO global cross-Border geopark in the world and it has been a resounding success. Indeed, additional Government investment is going into that particular area which will be hugely beneficial for the south of Ulster and indeed the north-west region of our country. Our British colleagues were delighted to see that cross-Border work. Actually, thanks to the work of Arlene Foster as Minister for Tourism and me as a member of the Government back in 2008, we were able to get that project moved on and approved at the time with significant investment in the meantime.
Our Good Friday committee had a meeting with the Northern Ireland affairs committee of the House of Commons. One issue I again put to the British members was that thankfully, over the years successive taoisigh and Ministers for Foreign Affairs on our side have addressed our plenary meetings when they are held in Ireland. We do not have the same level of participation by senior British Ministers. We emphasised the need for the Prime Minister and senior Ministers in Britain to participate in the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and in the British-Irish Council. Successive Governments of ours have participated very willingly in all those discussions.
In regard to the funding that has been made available for developments in Northern Ireland, I am particularly interested in the A5 and the N2, which is important as part of my own constituency in County Monaghan, to our neighbours in Tyrone and to those in Donegal.
We are approaching the 50th anniversary of the terrible atrocities that were committed on our island on 17 May 1974. We have continually emphasised on every forum available to us the responsibility on the British Government to respond meaningfully to the unanimous request of this House in 2008, 2011 and 2016 to give access to an independent international eminent legal person to the relevant files and papers pertaining to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. It is deplorable that the British Government has not responded to the request of our sovereign Parliament, iterated in this House and in the Seanad in 2008, 2011 and 2016. I want those issues pushed as strongly as possible.
As of last week the British Government's so-called legacy Bill became law. The British intention is that inquests and investigations will remain unconcluded and that families will go without the answers or the justice they rightly deserve. This cynical and callous Bill is an affront to the victim-centred approach agreed as part of the Stormont House Agreement. The singular purpose it serves is to close the door on families ever getting truth and justice. It stands as a flagrant violation of international human rights law and breaches multiple international agreements to which the Irish Government is a co-guarantor. It has united victims and families, human rights experts and organisations, as well as every political party on this island in opposition to its cruel approach. Having witnessed the determination, strength and resolve of families campaigning for truth and justice over many decades, I have no doubt the British Government will fail in its objectives. However, the Irish Government has a role to play and an obligation to victims and their families to support their campaigns for truth and justice while opposing British attempts to erect a permanent veil of secrecy. Will the Taoiseach update the House in respect of the inter-state case the Government has initiated against the British Government in regard to this Bill in the European Court of Human Rights? Will the Taoiseach also outline the actions he has taken to ensure a victim-centred approach to progressing legacy matters and the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement?
The meeting with the First Minister and deputy First Minister sounded positive. It dealt with the issue of budgets. I imagine the issue of British Government underfunding was top of that agenda. The Taoiseach said he spoke about migration. It is welcome that conversation happens across the island.
This is not a devolved power, however, and obviously relates to the British Government. We know about the particular spat that is happening at the minute. The Taoiseach also stated that, as much as this needs to be rectified, he believes it is actions that need to be taken in this State that can deal with that issue. A handle needs to be got on it so that we have something that is fair, efficient and enforced. The Taoiseach might give an update in that regard.
We all welcome any moves regarding the shared island funding, particularly the A5, the Narrow Water Bridge and anything from an educational point of view. With regard to that wider idea of constitutional change, there is a need for the Government to do its preparatory bits, even in the case of the questions we may be asking in the future and the possibility of a referendum.
It goes without saying that the legacy Bill is an absolute disgrace. I also ask for that update regarding what Deputy Tully asked. Has the Taoiseach made contact with Rishi Sunak and his Government following this to deal with some of these issues? Has he any update rather than the stuff that is in the public domain?
I thank the Deputies very much. I acknowledge Deputy Brendan Smith's leadership of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly but also his leadership more broadly on North-South issues over a sustained period. I was delighted to attend the BIPA meeting. I was even more delighted that it was held in my constituency. The Deputy could not have known I was going to be Taoiseach at that time, so it worked out very well for everybody. It was great to be there and see the deep bonds of friendship. As all of us in this House know, the best way to embed peace is through interpersonal relationships. The role Deputy Smith has played in that regard should be commended, as should the cross-Border projects he referenced on which he worked with Ms Arlene Foster and others. I am pleased that representatives from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee from the House of Commons are here. I take that point about the importance of senior British engagement at BIPA plenary sessions. I will certainly engage with counterparts in the UK on that in the appropriate way.
I am very pleased the shared island funding is making a real impact with regard to the A5. I am conscious that, only last week, we saw another very sad loss of life on that road. There is a process going on in the North that Minister O'Dowd and others need to follow, which I do not want to cut across. For our part, however, the very substantial funding we have provided will make a difference.
I take seriously the points the Deputy made about the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I am happy to continue to engage with him and appropriately with the British Government in that regard.
To Deputies Tully and Ó Murchú, the view of Government is very clear regarding legacy issues. It has been led by my colleague, the Tánaiste, as Minister for Foreign Affairs. We did not wish to find ourselves in this place. We exhausted all other avenues. On 17 January, the Government did file an interstate case against the United Kingdom with the European Court of Human Rights. The application makes clear our Government's strong concerns that victims and family members who spent decades fighting for an effective investigation into their case are having all existing avenues to truth and justice shut down. That case is now with the European Court of Human Rights at admissibility stage. That is where the current update stands.
With regard to migration, as Deputy Ó Murchú said, it is not a function for the Northern Ireland Executive but a function for the British Government. The First Minister, deputy First Minister and I did have useful conversations about the importance of sharing information and data between our various officials, the importance of continued official engagement and acknowledging the good and important collaboration that happens very regularly between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána on many issues of mutual concern, including protection and security on the island of Ireland.
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