I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments and ongoing developments in relation to Northern Ireland, Irish-British relations and the shared island initiative. Areas of discussion also include the annual United Kingdom-Ireland summits and their agreed UK-Ireland 2030 programme of work, and the continued roll-out and development of the investment, research and dialogue strands of the shared island initiative. It considers issues relevant to the Government's position as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. Members of this House will have seen the situation that has arisen in Drumcree in recent days following a Parades Commission determination in relation to the routing of an Orange Order parade to include the Garvaghy Road. The Government is very concerned about the situation. Our primary concern remains to avoid a return to the divisions of the past, recalling the significant progress made over many years in furthering reconciliation under the Good Friday Agreement. There is an opportunity and a responsibility on all parties to make every effort to mediate a way through the current situation. The Government will continue to work towards that end.

On Irish-British relations, I met with the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, at No. 10 North in Manchester on 18 September. We spoke also more recently over the weekend regarding the challenging and concerning situation at Drumcree. We are of one mind that in all circumstances it is important that we work together to protect the gains of the peace process. When we met in Manchester, Prime Minister Burnham and I had a very positive and productive meeting and discussed a wide range of matters, including the strength of the relations between our two countries and our ongoing work under the UK-Ireland 2030 programme to deliver new benefits and opportunities for people and businesses across these islands. We also discussed Northern Ireland matters, including the importance of the principles, institutions and partnerships at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement. We discussed the role of our two Governments as co-guarantors in shaping how we approach all aspects of the agreement, including further progress on the achievement of peace, prosperity and reconciliation on this island and between both countries. The situation in Drumcree is a reminder of the importance of this work.

Last year's agreement between both Governments on a joint framework on legacy was a momentous step forward. Prime Minister Burnham and I reaffirmed our commitment to implementing the joint framework, and to do doing so as soon as possible. I welcome the fact that the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will be back before Parliament at Westminster next month. The Government here agreed and published the heads of Bill for our implementing legislation last June, and a new dedicated Troubles legacy liaison unit is now operational within An Garda Síochána as the central point of contact and co-ordination for victims and families in relation to Troubles-related investigations in this jurisdiction. We are preparing to ensure that we are in a position to enact our legislation to dovetail with the UK Northern Ireland Troubles Bill when it is enacted. I welcome that the British Government is now of the view that there is a need for some reforms to make the Stormont institutions work better. That has been my view for some time. I welcome that the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant, is engaging with the Northern Ireland parties on this, as well as on the critical issue of the Executive agreeing a budget.

As a co-guarantor of the agreement, the Government has an interest here. The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are designed to be interlocking. Without a functioning Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council cannot function. Our meeting also addressed a number of important international issues, including the seriously concerning humanitarian situation in Gaza and sharply deteriorating situation in the West Bank, and our joint commitment to supporting a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. More broadly, Government engagement in recent months, as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, has included whole-of-government participation in the North-South Ministerial Council plenary in Armagh in May and my attendance, accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McEntee, at the 45th summit meeting of the British-Irish Council in Guernsey in July, alongside representatives of the governments of all eight member administrations.

On the shared island initiative, our programme for Government sets out an ambitious agenda, backed by our €2 billion commitment to the Shared Island Fund out to 2035. We are forging ahead with this investment and co-operation agenda across all sectors. The Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland meets twice yearly. It last met on 15 June. It is intended that it will meet again before the end of the year.

In recent days, there have been attempts to smear the good people of the Garvaghy Road as a mob. It brings to mind what James Connolly wrote about the concept of the mob, as in ordinary people. He wrote that the period where the mob had no power "was the blackest period in human history". He described the mob as a humanising civilising force and finished with the call of "All hail, then, to the mob, the incarnation of progress!" I had the pleasure of standing with this so-called mob over the weekend. They were the most welcoming, disciplined, steadfast and determined community you can imagine. It was these people - the over 1,000 people - who stood throughout the night while the rain came down who held the line against sectarianism. It was them and not the institutions, not the Parades Commission, which incredibly said that this sectarian, triumphalist march connected with murder should be allowed to proceed, and not the courts that upheld that decision. It was the people who held the line and stopped this opening up of a nightmare scenario, not just for the people in Portadown but for communities right across the North.

Has the Taoiseach communicated clearly to Prime Minister Burnham that this Orange Order march simply cannot proceed? That is the solution. The march needs to be stopped.

I thank the Taoiseach for that statement. Will he please comment further on his ongoing engagement and that of his Government with all political parties in the North outside of the NSMC structure and, following his meeting with the new Prime Minister Burnham on 18 September, on the joint priorities they have set out, given the fact there was the joint statement in Cork previously with the previous Prime Minister and on his conversations with the new Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant, in light of Drumcree, which the Taoiseach alluded to, the awful scenes we saw and in terms of the much-needed Stormont reforms?

There are no winners in what has happened on the Garvaghy Road in recent days. No one ever wins in the North when the politics of fear and division is prioritised. The PSNI had no information suggesting the proposed march would cause public disorder or damage to property and that appears to have been significant in the decision to let it proceed. Is the absence of conflict the measure of a harmonious reconciled society? What weight was given to the fear and hurt felt by people living on the road? What role can the Irish Government play in restoring calm, repairing relations and rebuilding confidence in the institutions intrusted with making decisions like this?

The Garvaghy Road residents have endured intimidation, violence and murder. They have shown extraordinary resilience and discipline but they should not be expected to endure that again. I was proud over the weekend to stand with residents of Bóthar Gharbhachaidh. Ní glacfaidh an pobal seo riamh arís le bheith caite mar shaoránaigh den dara grád. The community was resolute and clear that they will never again be treated like second-class citizens. They are first-class citizens in a first-class community. They are Irish citizens and the Taoiseach has an absolute obligation to vindicate their rights to live in their community, to live free from fear of sectarian intimidation and harassment. He must protect this community and protect the peace. The Secretary of State has power to make a determination that this march will not be forced through the community. The Taoiseach is the Head of Government and a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. Enough of the traditional fence-sitting. Statements are well and good but will he actually press the British Government now to take this march off the table?

I send solidarity to the residents of the Garvaghy Road. We met a delegation here last week and I salute their organisation and their determination. This is a working-class community standing up against a threat to drag Portadown and the North back to the past. The Orange Order seeking to push this march through is sectarian bullying. The march was always offensive to the community. It is not wanted. It is a catalyst for sectarian division. Children and adults have died in the past over this. Twenty-eight years without these sort of marches have been very helpful for this community. The cynical opening up of these old sectarian divisions is disgraceful. This is being dredged up, it would seem, by politicians to whip up division in an attempt to boost them ahead of elections next year, to divert attention maybe from sexual assault trials and so on. It is very important that working class people, Catholic and Protestant, stand together against this attempt to drag the North back into sectarianism.

Thank you, Deputy.

I will finish on this. What is the Taoiseach going to do? I do not believe the establishment can sit back and just allow this to happen. The Taoiseach, the British Prime Minister and the Secretary of State can intervene to stop these marches being enforced.

The Taoiseach has described the decision of the Parades Commission to permit an Orange Order parade along the Garvaghy Road as "incomprehensible and wrong", and he is right in that. For 28 years there has been no parade on that route and most right-thinking people anticipated that would remain the case. Peace must be protected. As co-guarantor, will the Taoiseach use the influence of this Government with the British Government to ensure the principles of the Good Friday Agreement, namely, equality, mutual respect and consent, are at the heart of finding a lasting resolution? There can be no unwanted Orange march on the Garvaghy Road. It is as simple as that.

Hear, hear.

The scenes on the Garvaghy Road last Sunday shocked people right across this island. A parade that had been off the agenda for 28 years was suddenly back, and thousands of people stood on the road to stop it. Thankfully, the day passed without serious violence and I commend all those who worked for calm. However, let us be honest about how we got here. This did not come from nowhere. For nearly three decades, too many of us on all sides mistook the absence of trouble for reconciliation. They are not the same thing. Unionism, nationalism, republicanism and, yes, both Governments let the slow work of building trust, dealing with the past and repairing relationships drift. Now, young people who never lived through the Drumcree incidents are being handed its bitterness. Peace has to be maintained and nurtured by all of us. Will the Taoiseach outline what steps the Government is taking with the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to support a structured mediation process on the Drumcree dispute? Will he commit to prioritising a properly resourced community reconciliation programme?

I welcome the fact that last Sunday the Taoiseach described the determination by the Parades Commission as "incomprehensible". I did not genuinely think we would be back watching scenes from Portadown, County Armagh on Sunday morning television which we, unfortunately, witnessed up to 1998. I am very glad the Taoiseach met Prime Minister Burnham and that he visited an Irish centre with him. I do not think we can ever pay enough tribute to the people and those volunteers in Irish centres throughout the world, particularly in Britain, and recognise the work they have done over the decades and that they continue to do today. It was clear from the communiqué after that meeting with the Prime Minister that there was a very thorough and relentless focus on legacy issues. They have to be dealt with because of reconciliation legacy. For far too long there are far too many families throughout this island waiting for the truth. They are waiting for the outcome of proper thorough investigations that have not been undertaken, whether it was on the bombings in Belturbet, other incidents across Cavan and Monaghan and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. The legacy Bill, the new framework, has to be put in statute as soon as possible. For too many of the families with whom I have worked over the years say to me - as I have said so often in this House - that they are getting old and will be gone to their graves before they ever get the outcome in relation to the atrocity that took their loved family member away.

I thank all the Deputies who have spoken. Deputy Paul Murphy spoke first. Some people may have used that term "mob" but the vast majority of people have not. The vast majority of people realise the enormous generational trauma that people in Garvaghy and Drumcree have gone through over the past three decades in particular. That is the motivation to prevent us having to go back to that type of trauma ever again.

We have engaged with the British Government. We have let it know our view as to what has happened but also how we can perhaps move forward. If we look back over the past number of decades there has been significant advancements in a lot of community relations. The Department of foreign affairs - I have been there on a number of occasions - over 30 years, and before shared island funding, administered the reconciliation fund, which has been particularly effective at interface areas.

We have supported a lot of working class, sporting and cultural organisations, with a view to breaking down barriers in various communities that hitherto would have had significant issues and tensions. That work has been ongoing. In many ways, what the last number of days reveal is complacency but also the fragility of that and how things can reverse very quickly.

To everybody, yes, we, in this House, find it incomprehensible how the Parades Commission took the decision it took. I have made that clear. What I am focused on now is how we try to collectively mediate our way through this because ultimately the resolution of this has to involve all sides for it to be sustainable.

Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about Síle Carson and that she said that we had failed to recognised sectarianism. No, we have not. The Irish Government has never failed to recognise sectarianism. The Irish Government and, in fact, the party I lead and other parties, were central to the Good Friday Agreement, which was to create parity of esteem between all traditions, between British and Irish citizenship within Northern Ireland, as well as the North-South Ministerial Council and so forth. I do not accept that assertion by Deputy Boyd Barrett at all, or by anybody in that respect. I do not believe the phrase the Deputy used. Nationalists are no longer second-class citizens in Northern Ireland.

The Orange Order wants to put them back there.

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.