Northern Ireland Dail Éireann — 2026-09-29 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central They are not, however, and never will be. The Good Friday Agreement was an enormous leap forward in that respect. Deputy Devlin made a point about engagement. I was at Comhaltas's Fleadh Cheoil in Belfast only in August. It was an extraordinary success. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann managed it very sensitively and, in fact, embraced all traditions within the celebration of Irish traditional music, including Loyalist bands, the Ulster-Scots dancing tradition and so on. That shows positively what can happen with constant engagement. We need that spirit back to try to deal with this current situation, which is very serious. Deputy Currie is correct. The absence of conflict does not mean there are no threats. The role the Irish Government can play is clearly laid out. Parades have been a function of the Northern Secretary of State and the legislation is there. As co-guarantors, we are speaking to the British Government, The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is speaking to the Secretary of State and I have been engaging with the Prime Minister in relation to all of this. Deputy McGuinness should stop using phrases like "traditional fence-sitting". That kind of carry-on is not going to solve anything. Everyone is this House is sincere about wanting to bring this to resolution. Let us not be so judgmental. There is no one sitting on fences here. We have all experienced too much violence on this island. It is easy to use catchphrases and soundbites to demonise people on either side of the House. That is not good enough. We had too much violence in the past. My objective has always been to protect people, including current and younger generations, from ever again having to go back to what generations had to experience in Northern Ireland. That is what we want to do. There is no need for a parade to go down the Garvaghy Road. That is my view. Others have different views. By the way, parades happen all over Northern Ireland. Every parade is not a demonstration of domination. Where communities have agreed, they have agreed. This one has always been a particular issue. As people have pointed out, the amount of murder, death, destruction and trauma associated with this parade makes it exceptional and, therefore, requiring special treatment as well. In terms of Deputy O'Sullivan's point, which was in response to Deputy Coppinger, the reconciliation fund in the Department of foreign affairs has done a lot of good work, which has been commented upon, and we will continue with it. Again, we are there to support the Garvaghy Road residents. We are there to support the communities in that area with any particular programme that they bring forward in respect of trying to build up trust and reconciliation. Likewise, through the shared island initiative, we stand ready to be of assistance in that regard. We agree with Deputy Smith in respect of the decision by the Parades Commission. Yes, the Irish centre in Manchester that the British Prime Minister and I visited was reflective of the historical connections between Ireland and that part of Great Britain. The Irish connections there go back generations, to the 19th century, and there were very proud people there who continue that tradition of providing service to people in the area. When I visited the centre in New York with Mayor Mamdani, again, every person had a life story of connection to Ireland and also of building up the country they now live in. On the legacy issue, that featured significantly during my meeting with Prime Minister Burnham. Again, I believe that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get an agreement over the line on legacy, which has eluded us for 30 years, so that there is proper mechanism for families to get answers as best they can and to get closure in respect of their loved ones. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:00:59+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-29