Speech by the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar T.D., Alliance Party pre-Conference dinner

Good evening.

First of all thank you Naomi and Stephen for inviting me to speak here this evening and for making me and my team feel so welcome.

It is always a pleasure to travel to Belfast. I always feel welcome here whether it’s coming here for political meetings, to launch Féile an Phobail, visit Schomberg House, or to attend Pride.

As you may already know, this is not the first time that I have attended an Alliance Party Conference. I did so, many years ago, in Carrickfergus when I was a member of the National Executive of Young Fine Gael.

It’s good to be back and in a slightly more senior capacity!

Thank you Naomi for giving me this opportunity.

Naomi Long is someone I have long admired for her courage in promoting an inclusive and progressive agenda for Northern Ireland. It is no exaggeration to say that she has literally put her life and personal safety on the line on more than one occasion. We saw that, for example, during the flag protests and I believe we all owe her a great debt of gratitude for the courageous leadership she has shown.

The connections between my party, Fine Gael, and yours, go right back to your foundation. In 1972 there was a standing ovation at the Fine Gael Ard Fhéis for Oliver Napier, Bob Cooper, Wendy Austin, Bertie McConnell, and Robert Glendenning who were all there as our guests.

We shared your progressive values and your vision for reconciliation and a shared and integrated Northern Ireland. We still do.

For almost fifty years, your party has been a steadfast voice for peace, for democracy and for partnership between all sections and all communities in Northern Ireland.

Today that voice is needed more than ever.

I’m also delighted to be joined by your former leader, John Cushnahan. Described by The Belfast Telegraph as ‘the man who brought toughness to moderate politics’, John served with distinction for fifteen years in the European Parliament for my party, Fine Gael.

Ireland, as a state, has changed so much in the past two decades. Ireland is unrecognizable from the country that I grew up in the 1980s, a country that was undeveloped economically and illiberal and often intolerant socially. A country that young people left in large numbers for London, Boston and New York, hoping to find employment and opportunity. Others left because they did not fit into our conservative society and left simply, so they could be themselves.

When I grew up in Ireland, being bi-racial was unusual in what was a homogenous country. Divorce was not an option. Being gay was something you kept to yourself. And young woman facing a crisis pregnancy, faced it alone. Catholic social teaching had for too long had too great an influence on public policy.

The last twenty years have seen so much change - change for the better as we voted as a nation to legalise divorce, marriage equality and more recently the right to choose.

I regret that Northern Ireland, which for so long was more liberal than the South, has not kept up. And it’s a real shame that these issues have got caught up in the tussle between Unionism and Nationalism, Orange and Green.

Delegates, I believe the right to marry the person you love, the right of a women to make choices about her own body, and the right to have your native language respected should not be about Orange and Green.

These are universal rights, these are personal freedoms and should apply everywhere without exception.

I believe the Northern Ireland of the future should embody the best of what is British and the best of what is Irish. So, any right or freedom that a British citizen has in Britain or an Irish citizen has in Ireland should be had here in Northern Ireland as well.

And, therefore, I salute the Alliance Party for its strong and progressive position on these issues. I believe you stand with the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland who are crying out for change.

And, I believe we are on the cusp of that change happening.

We should never forget that the largest march that happens in Northern Ireland every year isn’t Orange or Green. It’s rainbow coloured.

Friends, I want to say something about the Belfast Agreement or the Good Friday Agreement. I don’t mind what you call it. It’s not the name that matters. It’s the content. Both in spirit and in letter.

One of the first things I did when I became Taoiseach was to read it afresh. It is truly eloquent and inspiring. I stand by the agreement and all that it means: peace in Britain and Ireland; political objectives pursued only by peaceful and democratic means; power sharing in Northern Ireland; ever closer co-operation North/South and East/West. Irish unity only by consent.

I believe the Good Friday Agreement would never have happened had it not been for the fact that both Ireland and the United Kingdom became members of the European Union. Europe and the Single Market and it’s 4 freedoms swept away so many of the differences between us. And so, Europe was and is the foundation on which the Good Friday settlement was made.

I am deeply concerned at how Brexit has already weakened the Agreement and I am concerned that anything that creates new differences - divergence between Britain and Ireland - will undermine it more. We cannot allow that to happen.

And so, I salute you, for your commitment and support for EU membership. Whatever happens, I ask that you continue to make the case for Europe into the future. The majority of people in Northern Ireland are with you, especially the young, don’t give up on it or on them. The Brexiteers never gave up on leaving. Had they lost the referendum, they would not have given up their firmly held beliefs. I ask that you never give up either.

Europe is your home too, you helped to build it, don’t let anyone say otherwise. You will always be welcome to return to that common European home we built together.

The authors of the Good Friday Agreement were visionary. No matter what happens in the future as a consequence of demographic change or anything else, power-sharing in Northern Ireland makes sense. Communities working together in partnership with each other for the common good. Building a better future together.

I deeply regret that the Assembly and Executive are not functioning. The citizens of Northern Ireland deserve better. They deserve a government that works for them and an assembly that holds it to account.

I also deeply sadened the absence of the North-South Ministerial Council. I think we only truly appreciate its value now that’s it’s gone. That unsung practical co-operation that makes a real difference in people’s lives - radiotherapy in Altnagelvin, all-island heart surgery for children in Dublin, record tourist numbers, the joint, albeit ill-fated bid for the Rugby World Cup, the all-island electricity market, even cross border greenways that would make you want to dance!

I would dearly love to see a resumption of that institution and in particular those projects that link it better together - economically and as people.

I look forward to work beginning on the N2/A5 helping to bring Derry and Letterkenny closer to Dublin. The Irish Government’s financial commitment to it is undiminished.

I would love to see the Dublin-Belfast rail line upgraded to high speed, reducing journey times between the two cities to little more than an hour perhaps with stops at Dublin airport, Drogheda, Dundalk and Newry. Imagine that!

I would love to see even deeper co-operation between Letterkenny and Derry as a city-region with new specialist services in Altnagelvin hospital and a cross-border university across two campuses. We could transform West Ulster for the better. Not just a city deal but a new deal for the whole region.

The authors of the Good Friday Agreement also saw the need for East-West institutions as well as North-South. After Brexit, we will want to continue to have a deep and close relationship with the United Kingdom and all its parts.

I believe the British-Irish Council and British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference can have new life and new relevance post-Brexit.

The British-Irish Council is the means through which all seven jurisdictions covered by the Common Travel Area, surrounded by the same seas, speaking the same language can work together.

The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference is the means through which the two sovereign governments can work together is a structured way. This will be particularly important as UK and Irish Ministers will no longer meet each other regularly and quarterly in Brussels as they do now.

Delegates, you’ll be aware that there has been a development in politics recently with a partnership between the SDLP and Fianna Fáil. Sinn Fein operates on both sides of the border. So does the Green Party. That’s up to them.

Fine Gael is choosing a different approach. We want to be able speak with and work with all parties as an honest broker. We want to be able to talk to parties in confidence and without fear or favour. I don’t think you can really do that if you have a privileged relationship with one party over the others.

We’ve all witnessed the dynamic created by the Conservative Party’s Agreement with the DUP. We need to be wise to the possibility that a similar dynamic could arise were Fianna Fáil to be in Government in Dublin given its partnership with the SDLP.

We want to be able to be fair and impartial when in Government as the Good Friday Agreement says we should be.

We want to work with all parties and particularly with individuals, groups, and parties in civic nationalism and civic unionism who seek new solutions to old problems. And with those in the broad centre ground like the Alliance.

We will work with people who consider themselves to be British or Irish and the growing numbers who feel that they are and can be both. For this reason, we have established and resourced a Northern Ireland Engagement Group, and I hope you will come to know them well. It’s something I am committed to personally.

We are just 28 days away from the 29th of March – the date on which the UK is due to leave the European Union. Unfortunately, at this point, there is uncertainty on the terms on which it will depart.

There is a deal on the table, one that was negotiated over many months and that reflects the compromises on both sides that were required to reach Agreement.

It is a good and fair deal. Not least because it contains the guarantee that there will be no hard border on this island no matter what else happens as a consequence of Brexit.

It also provides for a period of transition during which we can work to ensure that the future relationship between the UK and the EU is as close as possible. Hopefully, the UK will want that. The ambition is limited only by the governments own red lines.

I firmly hope that the UK will ratify the Withdrawal Agreement so that we can move forward.

The Withdrawal Agreement reflects the Irish Government’s priorities in the negotiations: to protect peace and the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, and to ensure the continuation of the Common Travel Area.

In our negotiations we have made some real progress already. The Common Travel Area and all the rights, freedoms and privileges associated with it are protected. That is, the right of British and Irish citizens to live, work, study, access housing, healthcare, voting rights, pensions and welfare in each others’ countries as though they are citizens of both.

We have agreement that EU funding for cross border programmes like INTERREG and PEACE will continue even after Brexit.

As you know, the Good Friday Agreement says that it is the birthright of people in Northern Ireland to be Irish, British or both and to be accepted as such. So, Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland after Brexit will continue to be European citizens as well, and will continue to have the freedom to travel, work or study in any part of the European Union without the need for a visa or permit. Sadly, this will not be case for those who hold British Citizenship alone. It’s no surprise that we have seen an upswing in applications for Irish citizenship. We expect that to continue and we are putting the necessary resources in place to ensure there are no undue delays.

I am also very keen to go further. I want people in Northern Ireland of either citizenship to continue to have access to the European Health Insurance Card and the Erasmus Programme. I also want Queens and University of Ulster to be allowed to opt into the EU research programmes. If the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified, this will be the case until 2021. And, it will be a negotiating priority of mine, to make it part of the future relationship.

Delegates, to build a future with progressive politics we need functioning institutions in Northern Ireland. When I met with Naomi and Stephen and the other parties here in Belfast three weeks ago your frustration was evident. I share your frustration.

While others are refusing to budge, you are helping to drive things forward.

The Alliance Party has always been a constructive voice. You have consistently helped to raise the level of political discourse on issues of deep importance to people across this society. We will continue to listen to you and work with you.

So tonight I wish your conference every success. And I look forward to our close and constructive engagement continuing and developing further in the years ahead.