Address by Taoiseach Micheál Martin: Building a Shared Island - Chief Executives’ Club at Queens, Inaugural Dublin Lecture

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Thank you, Mary.

It is a pleasure to be here with you this evening at Academy House, to address the first Dublin meeting of the Chief Executives’ Club at Queen’s University Belfast.

Queen’s University has a fine history of producing leaders who have made significant contributions to society across the island of Ireland, in Britain and around the world.

That record continues stronger than ever today, in science, business, the arts, public sector, politics and other fields - represented very well by the members of this Club, in attendance here in Dublin and joining online.

I want to thank Professor Ian Greer, President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University, and Ryan Feeney for the invitation to speak with you all this evening, and the Royal Irish Academy for hosting the event.

Professor Greer is also the President of Universities Ireland.

As I know he will be stepping down from that role shortly, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge his strong contribution to deepening cooperation between the 10 universities across this island.

And that work is very much a part of this evening’s discussion on the theme of ‘Building a Shared Island’ - a subject of particular importance at this time, for the government and indeed for us all.

Queen’s University and its alumni exemplify the breadth of our connections, North/South on this island and East/West, and the value of deepening those relationships in the years ahead,

in economic and societal terms.

I’d like to set out how the government is working to do that, particularly through our Shared Island initiative, which is founded on taking up the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement.

In 1997, on her inauguration as 8th President of Ireland, Queens’ University alumnus, Mary McAleese spoke of the demand of the people of this island “to solve our problems by dialogue and the noble pursuit of consensus.”

6 months later, that demand was affirmed in the resounding endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement by the people, North and South, in historic referendums that represented a transformational moment in this island’s history.

Chomhaontaíomar ár bhféiniúlachtaí, traidisiúin agus mianta bunreachtúla éagsúla agus chomh dlisteanach céanna a aithint agus meas a bheith againn orthu.

Agus oibriú i gcomhar lena chéile - i dTuaisceart Éireann, ó Thuaidh/ó Dheas ar an oileán seo, chomh maith le Soir/Siar - ar mhaithe le todhchaí níos fearr.

[We agreed to recognise and respect our different, equally legitimate, identities, traditions and constitutional aspirations.

And to work together - in Northern Ireland, North/South on this island, as well as East/West - for a brighter future.]

Much has been achieved over the past 24 years through the Good Friday Agreement.

Consolidating peace; and normalising and developing our political, economic and societal relationships.

As former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said on her installation as Chancellor of Queen’s University last year, through the Peace Process, “Northern Ireland has become a symbol of democracy’s power to transcend divisions and deliver peace.”

But it is clear too that we have a way to go to achieve the goal of “reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust” that is at the core of the Good Friday Agreement.

Too often, the politics of the Peace Process operates as a contest of identities, when it should be a pursuit of common interests.

That constrains what we achieve through the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.

And, it has hindered the building up of connections and trust across different communities on this island.

The outworkings of Brexit, including the Protocol, continue to complicate politics in Northern Ireland, and North/South and East/West relationships.

And, the power-sharing and North/South institutions of the Agreement are not fully functioning at present, which is a serious concern.

I acknowledge the genuinely held concerns among some in the unionist community around the Protocol and its implementation.

The Irish Government is working very actively with our EU partners to listen and engage on these, and to seek resolutions within the agreed EU-UK framework.

I’m sure many in this room will also recognise the unique economic opportunities that the Protocol offers Northern Ireland.

The government wants to see an agreed way forward on the Protocol, without delay, that works in the best way possible for the people of Northern Ireland.

We also want to move beyond these issues confronting us on Brexit and the Protocol. To focus more on taking up shared opportunities and addressing common challenges for this island.

So that we deepen cooperation in real, impactful ways that will support better connection and understanding across communities and political traditions.

And work with renewed commitment through the framework of the Good Friday Agreement to build a genuinely shared, reconciled future for all.

That is why I launched the government’s Shared Island initiative, almost 18 months ago.

To work with all communities and political traditions on the island to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

This involves:

- Raising the level of ambition for what we achieve through all-island partnerships - with the Executive, the UK Government and right across society;

- Delivering on cross-border investment commitments and developing a new generation of projects, focused on major shared challenges for North and South;

and,

- Fostering inclusive civic dialogue and a comprehensive programme of research to inform our shared island policy and to help build consensus around a shared future.

Backing this up, through the revised National Development Plan, the government has set out an unprecedented commitment of €3.5 billion for all-island investment out to 2030. Including €1 billion through our Shared Island Fund.

Last year, we allocated €50 million from the Shared Island Fund.

To move ahead with 2 long-standing cross-border projects - the Ulster Canal and Narrow Water Bridge - that will be landmark recreation and sustainable tourism assets for the central and east border regions.

And to commence a major new North/South Research Programme which is bringing together researchers from across the island to engage in collaborative, ground-breaking work that will strengthen the island’s reputation for innovation and research excellence.

Last month, under the first call, the Higher Education Authority awarded over €37 million to 62 research projects.

Taken forward by researchers North and South, and helping to inform how we respond to global, national and regional challenges that we face together on the island.

There was an overwhelming level of interest and response to the programme and I have had an opportunity already to meet a number of the researchers involved in this exciting work.

Researchers from Queen’s are partners in 43 of the successful projects. This is no surprise given the depth and breadth of their research networks.

As I saw first-hand in visiting the University in the autumn, Queen’s already engages extensively with researchers in the South, across the disciplines.

This experience will now help advance research across a broad range of areas, including cancer and health research, youth crime, culture and engagement and the creation of an All-Ireland Centre of Excellence in Economics, History and Policy.

We are also working across Government to introduce other major new all-island projects this year, supported through the Shared Island Fund.

Including for:

- EV charging infrastructure;

- climate action;

- border region enterprise development; and,

- for all-island civil society partnerships.

And, we are seeking to work with the Executive, the UK Government, with Local Authorities and civil society, to do more together to enhance the shared island for all.

Last weekend, as part of my visit to Derry, I announced a new €5 million Shared Island funding scheme open to Local Authorities right across the island.

To support them in developing new cross-border capital projects together. That will deliver shared regional development goals and our National Development Plan objectives.

Local Authorities want to work together for instance to deliver cross-border tourism and recreation projects; conserve natural and built heritage; protect biodiversity; and meet regional skills needs.

We are backing them now to develop a pipeline of new capital investment proposals in these and other areas, with a view to accessing further funding in both jurisdictions.

We are also aiming to move ahead this year with all-island research hubs, backed by the Shared Island Fund, and working with the Executive and the UK Government.

Vice-Chancellor Greer, as Chair of Universities Ireland, has been instrumental in bringing our higher education institutions together to input significantly to the development of an approach which now has broad buy-in, North and South.

Hubs will bring industry, universities and research agencies together on the island to conduct world-leading r&d.

In areas of common priority for both jurisdictions like Cybersecurity, Digital Healthcare and Precision Medicine.

By combining our capacities in these and other areas, we can go far beyond what either jurisdiction can achieve separately. Enhancing the FDI offering and indigenous enterprise base of the whole island.

This is the kind of substantial cooperation and interaction that will bring us closer together, in real terms, on this island in the years ahead.

The government is working with our partners to develop and deliver new investment, policy and cooperation projects for our Shared Island, across all policy areas.

We also want to deepen cooperation in higher and further education on the island, which offers benefits for institutions and students alike. Not least to support more student mobility, so that more young people take up the option to go North, or come South to study.

Minister Simon Harris is commissioning work this year to examine how we can do more to foster student mobility both on this island, and between Ireland and Britain.

I also want to acknowledge the valuable work undertaken by the Royal Irish Academy’s Higher Education Futures Taskforce in developing a vision for the sector to support talent, research, skills, sustainability and equality on the island of Ireland in the years to 2035.

This is a most important contribution to inform how we develop our third level sector over the coming years, underpinned by greater North/South interaction and collaboration.

Our Shared Island initiative also involves a comprehensive programme of published research.

To scope out opportunities, and challenges, in looking at how we can better share this island.

My department has commissioned the ESRI to undertake a broad programme of Shared Island work.

Looking last year at the services economy, FDI, healthcare, and education systems and outcomes, North and South. And a suite of other sectoral issues in 2022.

This is contributing a better evidence base and high-quality analysis on the island as a whole.

Next week, the National Economic and Social Council will publish a major report to Government on Shared Island: Shared Opportunity.

Informed by broad consultation over the last year, the Council is making a series of recommendations to Government on how we could deepen beneficial cooperation on the island, across a range of environmental, social and economic issues.

We will positively consider these recommendations and seek to take them forward, in consultation with the Executive, UK Government and other partners.

And, I also want to welcome the work of the Academy’s ARINS project which is exploring political and policy considerations for Ireland North and South in a post-Brexit context, in an open, inclusive, broad-based way.

Inclusive civic dialogue is also the heart of our Shared Island approach, and I’d like to conclude with a few words on that.

I launched a Shared Island Dialogue series, over a year ago, to provide a space for inclusive civic conversations to inform how we work to build consensus around a shared future on this island.

Since then, over 1,300 civic representatives have participated, from across all sectors, communities and regions on the island.

We are ensuring the inclusion of voices not sufficiently heard in the Peace Process - in particular women, young people and ethnic minorities.

Through the Dialogue series, the government is listening to people’s views on a wide range of concerns for the future of this island.

For instance, on climate action, healthcare cooperation, economic recovery, tourism and sport.

The Dialogues are also engaging with societal issues for the whole island, around identity, culture, equality, and inclusion.

A Dialogue on Education in October, which Professor Greer participated in, put a timely focus on how we shape the future of the sector on an island-wide basis.

Including on how we work more strategically to address persistent educational underachievement, which is imperative in consolidating peace and prosperity.

And, how we provide more opportunities for our young people to better know and understand each other from different community and regional backgrounds. At all levels of education, and in how curriculums are delivered.

These are vital concerns in building a more reconciled society on this island. The government is working to put greater focus on them, in civic discourse and in our partnerships with the Executive and the UK Government.

The Shared Island Dialogues are also leading to important new all-island initiatives, led directly by civil society.

Like the National Women’s Council’s All-Island Women’s Forum and the iCommunity project led by The Wheel and the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action.

The government is taking account of what civil society on the island is saying in the Dialogues.

In our approach to public investment through the National Development Plan, and in how we work to deepen our North/South and East/West partnerships through the Good Friday Agreement.

And we will continue to listen to, engage with, and champion inclusive civic dialogue and engagement as a core part of our Shared Island initiative.

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15 years ago yesterday, the late Ian Paisley travelled to Dublin to meet with then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Dr. Paisley spoke of how both leaders could confidently state that they were making progress. He acknowledged “flourishing” business opportunities and the development of “genuine respect for the understanding of each other's differences and… similarities”.

That landmark meeting was part of a move on from a difficult period in Northern Ireland politics, when the Executive had been absent for almost 5 years.

Through sustained political effort, and commitment to the principles, institutions and aims of the Good Friday Agreement, progress that many thought was impossible in the Peace Process, was achieved.

And there was much optimism that we were slowly, but surely, deepening reconciliation by working through the Good Friday Agreement.

At this time, we need once again, to recapture that spirit of hope.

In next months’ Assembly election, the people of Northern Ireland will provide a democratic mandate for the devolved power-sharing institutions.

This a consequential moment in the midst of another challenging period for political relationships in Northern Ireland.

The progress achieved since 1998 must be protected and sustained.

The way forward is for all political leaders to live up to the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement, which are overwhelmingly supported by people across this island.

To see all of the political institutions of the Agreement working and delivering for people.

To reaffirm partnership, equality and mutual respect as of the basis of our political relationships.

And to work in our common interests for a shared, reconciled future for all, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

That is a goal of utmost priority for the government as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. And we are significantly prioritising, resourcing and delivering an agenda to support it through our Shared Island initiative.

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In closing, I want to ask the Chief Executives’ Club at Queen’s to help with this endeavour.

You are a network of leaders, who understand and contribute to North/South and East/West connections - through your alma mater, and in your careers and businesses today.

Your collective expertise across enterprise, civil society and higher education has much to offer in deepening cooperation and connections.

We can all make a positive contribution to building a Shared Island.

As your University’s Chancellor, Secretary Hillary Clinton, said last year, the answers for a peaceful, prosperous future “will be determined by the power of communities coming together, like the one here at Queen’s.”

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts this evening.