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14Th Plenary Session BRITISH-IRISH INTER-PARLIAMENTARY BODY COMHLACHT IDIR-PHARLAIMINTEACH NA BREATAINE AGUS NA hÉIREANN _____________________________________________ TWENTY-FIRST PLENARY SESSION 9 and 10 October 2000 Lettermore Suite, Galway Bay Hotel, Galway _________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL REPORT (Final Revised Edition) (Produced by the British-Irish Parliamentary Reporting Association) Monday, 9 October 2000 The sitting was opened in public at 9.35 am in the Lettermore Suite, Galway Bay Hotel, Galway, with Mr Michael O'Kennedy in the Chair. 1. MICHAEL AND NICHOLA COLVIN The Co-Chairman (Mr Michael O'Kennedy): The meeting is now in public session. It is my sad duty to note with great personal regret, and on behalf of all of you, the tragic death of our colleague Michael Colvin and his dear wife Nichola some weeks after our last meeting in February. Over the years we have lost a number of colleagues whom we all miss personally. It reflects the growing relationship, personal and otherwise, between the members of this Body that we feel such a great personal sense of loss. On this occasion, the tragic deaths of Michael and Nichola greatly affected us all and was a major shock, coming so soon after his involvement at our last meeting, his vigorous and consistent participation as Chairman of Committee B and the very personal relationships he developed with his colleagues on that committee and with us all in this Body. It is fair to say that those of us on the Irish side would not normally meet an authentic, truly traditional Tory MP like Michael Colvin. Such a person would not be part of our normal social experience. It is also perhaps true that Michael would not normally have met TDs of the range that are represented in this Body. That said, it is even more true that from the moment we got to know each other, perhaps because of the different inheritance and traditions, a great personal relationship and understanding emerged and a truly personal commitment and friendship evolved between Michael and the rest of us. I especially recall his commitment to his committee and the fact that he, and his colleagues on the committee, were pushing impetuously to get more of their reports before the Body. There is no doubting his commitment to the Body, nor to the people he served. There is also no doubting his commitment to the values in which he believed, which might not be reflected in the values we all share. They were the values of country life and the environment. There is also no doubting his service to his nation, which he clearly and consistently demonstrated in the Army and many other areas of activity. Nor is there any doubt that were he with us this morning he would have had his sketch book with him, as he had in Adare and on many other occasions, to recall for special effect and to commit to memory the location and character of the places he visited here. It is a very sad occasion for each of us and this is heightened by the fact that Michael is the latest in a long list of personal friends the Body has lost over the years. He was a truly authentic voice of his people and an authentic squire of the kind we would not normally meet. He made us more conscious of the range of values of the British people and of the traditional values of British politics. I hope he helped us to understand that together we could build a new and special future for all our people. I am sure members will understand if I say in our language, ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal, on the right hand of the Lord may the noble souls of Michael and Nichola be forever. The Plenary stood in silence for one minute. 2. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS The Co-Chairman (Mr O'Kennedy): As is now standard procedure at any gathering, I remind Members to turn off pagers, bleepers and mobile telephones while you are in the room. It does not apply to me because I do not carry them. The proceedings of the Body do not attract parliamentary privilege. In accordance with Rule 2(a), the following associate members have accepted the invitation of the Steering Committee to assume the powers and responsibilities of Members for the whole of this session: Mr Paul Bradford TD, Mr Seán Doherty TD, Helen Jackson MP, and Mr Andrew Mackinlay MP. The only constant in political life is change. It happens here also. In accordance with that constant flux, I inform Members that Mr Charles Flanagan TD has been asked by his party to take on another role in the Dáil. After today he is to be replaced by Mr Brian Hayes TD. Brian will take over Charles's duties as Chairman of Committee A and in that capacity as a member of the Steering Committee. At the conclusion of item 4, that is, the questions for oral answer to be submitted to the Taoiseach when he arrives early this afternoon, there will be the usual group photograph. That will be at 4 pm. The next task is a pleasant one. Observers from the devolved institutions and the islands have been invited. After we met them informally, and very effectively, in London the Steering Committee decided they should be allowed to speak during debate under the provisions of Rule 2(c). With your endorsement, they will be allowed to contribute to our debates today and subsequently. Perhaps they might identify themselves as I call them. From Scotland, from the Parliament, we have Ms Patricia Ferguson MSP, Deputy Presiding Officer, Ms Cathy Craigie MSP, Margaret Ewing MSP (a familiar name to those of us with experience in the European Parliament), Mr David McLetchie MSP and Mr Ian Smith MSP. From the National Assembly for Wales, we have Mr John Griffiths AM, Dr David Lloyd AM and Ms Jenny Randerson AM. From Northern Ireland, we have Ms Carmel Hanna MLA and Mr Séan Neeson MLA. From the Isle of Man, we have Mr Speaker, the Hon. David Cannan. From Guernsey, we have Deputy Roger C Berry. I do not think I have left out anybody. We have, incidentally, received apologies from the States of Deliberation of Jersey, which has been unable to send a representative to us on this occasion. 3. ADOPTION OF PROPOSED PROGRAMME OF BUSINESS The Co-Chairman (Mr O'Kennedy): We can move on to the formal business. I formally move the adoption of the proposed programme of business, as amended, which has been circulated to the Body. Ordered, That the proposed Programme of Business for the current Session, as amended, be approved.-(The Chairman.) 4. RECENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS The Co-Chairman (Mr O'Kennedy): I am conscious of the fact that there has always been a lively interest in participating in all the Body's debates. To try to accommodate that within the time available to us, it would be extremely helpful if those wishing to speak in the debates, and particularly this first debate on the political motion, would submit their names as soon as possible. A number of you have done so and if there are others who have not given your names to the Clerks, would you do so as soon as possible because we want to try to accommodate every speaker. If you indicate as soon as possible that you wish to speak, we will include your name. As already stated, this includes our guests, the parliamentary observers to whom I referred earlier, who are welcome to contribute provided they signal their intention to do so in good time. The Steering Committee has decided that we should, for that reason, impose a time limit on speeches of four minutes, with ten minutes for the opening and closing speeches. If, as we proceed, we find that we have more time, we could perhaps extend the time allowed, but experience shows that four minutes is the maximum which we should allow. Is that agreed? Agreed. I welcome the Chairman of Committee A, Mr Brian Hayes TD, to move this motion and formally open the debate. Mr Brian Hayes (Dublin South-West): I move: That the Body, conscious of the difficulties being faced by the two Governments and the parties in their efforts to achieve the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, welcomes the progress made so far, and urges both Governments and all parties to redouble their efforts to overcome the present problems. It is with great pleasure that I formally move this motion on behalf of the Steering Committee. I am indebted to the tireless work and effort of my party's former Northern Ireland spokesperson, Deputy Charles Flanagan, on this Body and for his work in that area of policy over recent years. I wish to recognise his contribution at the outset. It is high time that those of us who want the Good Friday Agreement to succeed were heard. In recent times many prophets of doom, allied to those who are fundamentally opposed to the Agreement, have actively pursued a campaign aimed at destabilising the new political structures that have taken root in Northern Ireland. We have heard little about the genuine successes, of which there have been many, of the Good Friday Agreement to date. I refer to the new Executive, which is operating under very difficult circumstances; the new North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council, which are attempting to bring about a new co- operation both here in Ireland and between Britain and Ireland; the new constitutional framework, agreed by everyone, which sets off the position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future; and the most tangible success story of all, namely, the dramatic de-escalation of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland.
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