Carol Nolan praises £500m shared island fund and urges calm
Carol Nolan spoke about North-South cooperation, shared island funding and tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol. She welcomed the New Decade New Approach Agreement as a confidence-building measure, noted a Taoiseach reply confirming £500 million ring-fenced for shared island projects out to 2025, and urged that rhetoric on Article 16 and the protocol remain non‑inflammatory.
New Decade New Approach Agreement
She recalled that the New Decade New Approach Agreement was brokered to help restore confidence in devolved government at Stormont and described it as a welcome move that underlined the need for all sides to work constructively for stability in the North.
Shared island funding and the Taoiseach's reply
She said she recently submitted a parliamentary question to the Taoiseach asking for an update on the shared island unit. In reply the Taoiseach confirmed that £500 million is to be made available out to 2025, ring-fenced for shared island projects and multi-annual capital funding for strategic North-South investment to support the commitments and objectives of the Good Friday Agreement.
Impact on border counties
Carol Nolan welcomed that border counties and other areas will benefit from the proposed funding, noting these communities are part of the shared island context and stand to gain from collaborative projects.
Concerns about Article 16 and the Northern Ireland Protocol
She warned that tensions are very high around Article 16 and the Northern Ireland Protocol and that there are serious and widening levels of disagreement on these matters.
Call for respectful rhetoric and good governance
She emphasised that discussions of stability and good governance do not take place in a political vacuum and urged that public rhetoric should not be deliberately inflammatory or divisive. She welcomed measures that aim to create light rather than heat and to foster mutual respect for all traditions on the island.
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I'm a good cean coirle. Minister, it's all I'm Lord Chair on this topic. It's a fair thing. As we know, the New Decade New Approach Agreement was brokered to help restore confidence in devolved government at Stormont. It was a welcome move at the time, as it underlined the necessity for all sides to work as constructively as possible in order for the people of the North to have some kind of stability that they so richly deserve. Perhaps we could do something similar here. Of course, and on a more serious note, the issues under discussion today, those of stability, good governance and so on, are not taking place in a political vacuum. They are taking place in the context of a renewed focus on the shared nature of our island and the need to speak proudly, but with respect to the varying political and historical loyalties that exist on the island. That is why I recently submitted a PQ to the Taoiseach, asking for an update on the shared island unit within his department. As part of his reply, the Taoiseach confirmed that £500 million is to be made available out to 2025, ring-fenced for shared island projects and multi-annual capital funding for investment on a strategic basis in collaborative North-South projects that will support the commitments and objectives of the Good Friday Agreement. I am happy to see that border counties and others will benefit from this proposal. They are a part of the SAR in the UK we are living in the UK, but for nearly all of the Gaelges, they are a part of the UK. However, if you have been the same goals under the UK, there is a good experience in the UK. But not for them, but for them, as they are the same goals in the UK, and for their example, the same goal, they are the same goals under the UK, And when it comes to the election of the election, it's not the only way to vote for the election. And it's the only way to vote for the election. It is true to say, Minister, that tensions are very high at the moment in respect to the North. There are serious and widening levels of disagreement around Article 16 and the Northern Ireland Protocol. It is critically important, therefore, that our rhetoric on these and other matters are not deliberately inflammatory or divisive. In that sense, I welcome all measures that aim to create light rather than heat and mutual respect for all traditions on our island.
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