Simon Harris: Prepare, Not Prescribe a United Ireland

Thanks very much Alaska and Comhairle. Let me say at the outset I want to see our island united, I want to see our people united, I want to see a united Ireland and I want to work across party lines in this house and across this island, north, south and indeed east and west to build durable consent that would make a new Ireland possible. I believe that's an aspiration shared in one form or another by an overwhelming majority of members of this house. Now I know how this chamber often works, I'm expected to stand up and say opposition bad, government good and you stand up and you say government bad, opposition good. I think on an issue as profound as constitutional change encompassed by the Good Friday Agreement we owe it to the people something better than that. We owe each other respect and we should acknowledge each other's bona fides. I fully accept the bona fides of Deputy MacDonald and her colleagues in bringing forward this legislation. While we differ on the approach I don't question the sincerity of your ultimate objective. We all seek a better future for this island but there are genuine differences across the political spectrum and how we best go about that and how we best achieve that future and I respectfully don't think it's a question of courage nor do I think it's a question of if you're in favour of this legislation you're in favour of a united Ireland and if you're not in favour of the legislation you don't wish to prepare. I think it's clearly much deeper than that. We may differ on process, we may differ on timing, we may differ on structures that should guide these discussions but none of these differences absolve us of the responsibility to engage or the responsibility to prepare. That's why as leader of Fine Gael I recently outlined my own party's intention to publish a new policy paper setting out our vision for the future of this island later this year and our aim is to engage with every tradition and every identity to encourage informed discussion and to identify the practical, economic, constitutional and societal questions that would need to be addressed for Ireland to be united. Nobody should fear these conversations, they're legitimate, they're necessary and they're already happening. But conversation is not the same as countdown. Constitutional change cannot be driven by deadlines or arbitrary timelines. It cannot rest on assumptions. If it's to happen it has to be carefully prepared for, honestly debated and above all, and I return to this idea, built on durable consent. That means listening, listening to every community and every tradition. It means recognising that constitutional change would require significant adjustments for everyone, it's not simply a merger or a takeover. It means understanding that for many people, particularly those within the unionist tradition, these questions are deeply personal and cannot be dismissed. If we're serious about building a shared future then reassurance has to come before rhetoric, persuasion has to come before politics and reconciliation is a requirement for constitutional change. That has been the approach of this government and our position is clear. It is reflected in the programme for government which commits us to the unity of the Irish people while remaining steadfast in implementing the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts. That remains our guiding principle. The Good Friday Agreement provides the democratic, peaceful and agreed pathway to constitutional change should it be the will of the people, north and south. It is one of the greatest achievements in the history of this island and I believe one of the greatest peace agreements anywhere in the world. It replaced conflict with consent, division with dialogue and violence with democratic choice. These principles must continue to guide every discussion about our constitutional future. I also want to acknowledge the impact of the Shared Island Initiative and credit the Taoiseach with his leadership in relation to this. While we may be political rivals from time to time, I won't stand for a situation where the Taoiseach is described as a block in relation to unity when the Taoiseach has done so much for peace on this island. The Shared Island represents the largest investment ever made in practical north-south co-operation, whether through improved transport links, research, education, enterprise, tourism or healthcare. These projects are improving people's daily lives, regardless of constitutional preference, because practical co-operation helps build that trust. It helps build that future. That same practical approach must underpin our engagement with the British Government. Last September, alongside the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, I announced a joint framework on legacy, legacy remaining one of the deepest wounds left by the Troubles. Families deserve truth, they deserve accountability and, where possible, they deserve justice. Turning to the legislation before us today, let me again say that I don't doubt your bona fides. I don't doubt anyone's bona fides. But the reason I don't support this Bill is I don't believe we need a Bill to prepare, quite frankly, and I am happy to engage. I don't believe we need a Bill to prepare. I don't believe constitutional change should be tied to arbitrary timelines and I don't believe the Citizens' Assembly is the best way and nor did the Good Friday Agreement report when it looked at this issue on a cross-party basis and suggested a better model of a forum, which I think deserves serious consideration. So these aren't reasons to avoid engagement, they're actually reasons to deepen it. So my commitment this evening is to continue working across this House with party leaders from all parties in government and opposition to advance the conversation that is underway, the conversation that will continue, preparation that is required. And it is a conversation that should be informed by respect rather than division, by careful preparation, not by seeking to label each other based on our position on one specific piece of legislation and based on consent rather than compulsion. Because if we're to achieve a united Ireland, and we will, it won't be built by any one party or any one government. It will be built by the people, it will be built democratically and it will endure only if it's founded on the principles that have served this island so well, peace, partnership and consent.