25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2023-05-30
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Mark Daly (CC), Administrative Panel

I thank the Tánaiste. Anniversaries are important because they allow us to reflect as well as to look forward. The initiative of the shared island unit, which came out of the formation of this Government and was led by the Tánaiste, is bringing people together. It is an important initiative. It is bringing people together on all sorts of things where we can make a difference to improve the lives of everybody. The issue around the legacy Bill, which Members of this House have been very strong on, has had one extraordinary effect. It has managed to unite all of the political parties on this island for the first time ever. I am aware that Senator Currie was in Belfast City Hall with Raymond McCord, whom the Tánaiste knows quite well, and who led an initiative that included the families of victims involved in the Birmingham bombing. He got all of the political parties, including the DUP, to sign one document, which has never happened before, with all of the major parties on the island opposing the idea of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill before the British Parliament at the moment. As the Tánaiste said, peace is a process. Long may the journey continue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2023-05-30/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-05-30