Tánaiste’s Remarks at the British Irish Association Conference Oxford, 5 September 2025

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Thank you Dominic, thank you colleagues

Secretary of State, Hilary,

Trustees, friends,

I’m delighted to be with you this evening.

For more than fifty years, the British Irish Association has been a fixture: a space for reflection and exchange on the state of these islands we call home.

It has played a quiet, crucial role in bringing people together, including during the darkest and hardest of times.

While this is my first time to attend the conference, I know that the conversations made possible here, can make action possible elsewhere.

I look forward to the opportunity to interact with all of you here this evening, in the spirit of informality and frankness that is the hallmark of the BIA.

First, though, a few words on the state of the partnership across our islands.

Diplomacy is embedded in history; we plan for the future with our knowledge of the past.

For some relationships, that sense of connection to the past is particularly profound. That is very much the case for the British‑Irish relationship. In order to go forward, we need to look back.

This November marks the 40th anniversary of the Anglo‑Irish Agreement. It is an Agreement has been, to some extent, overshadowed by subsequent breakthroughs in the peace process: the Downing Street Declaration, the ceasefires, the Good Friday Agreement.

The 40th anniversary is an opportunity to recall the historic importance of the Anglo‑Irish Agreement, to acknowledge what an extraordinary instrument it was: a treaty‑based arrangement between two States, when Northern Ireland was still the subject of a territorial dispute between them.

That was unprecedented. It was a testament to the creativity and spirit of compromise of its negotiators. And if I were to focus on one key prerequisite for the Agreement, it would be political courage.

I have had the great privilege of serving as both Taoiseach and now Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. In both roles, and as leader of my party, I have followed in the footsteps of the late Dr Garret FitzGerald – one of the founders of the BIA.

The road to the Anglo‑Irish Agreement was a bruising one for Garret. As soon as the existence of the negotiations became public, he faced scepticism or outright opposition from his domestic political rivals.

A political blow came with the then British Prime Minister’s ‘out, out, out’ press conference. Any number of other politicians would have been derailed.

But Garret persisted; swallowing what he calls in his memoirs this ‘short‑term humiliation’.

The British Prime Minister could equally have walked away from negotiations: her political instincts and sympathies; the horror of the Brighton hotel bombing; and of course, the divisions she faced in her Cabinet and party.

But she didn’t.

And so beyond its specific provisions, the historic achievement of the Anglo‑Irish Agreement was that it showed that British‑Irish partnership on Northern Ireland was possible.

The Agreement faced enormous hostility. It still faces criticism today – just last week, a Belfast News Letter editorial described it as “the disastrous Anglo-Irish Agreement”.

But it changed the nature of how the two governments engaged on Northern Ireland. The supportive hand of the US was, of course, also course present, even if less visible than in later years.

In demonstrating progress through politics, it empowered those, like John Hume, who were seeking a settlement without violence.

There were many dark days that followed it – at Milltown Cemetery, in Enniskillen, in the many heinous sectarian murders of individuals for no other reason than their religion and background.

But it laid the foundation for much of what followed.

Friends, colleagues

The British‑Irish partnership has real momentum behind it.

Last September, as Taoiseach, I welcomed Prime Minister Starmer to Dublin, to agree an ambitious new chapter for our relationship. In March, our governments agreed the UK-Ireland 2030 Joint Statement, a new and substantive programme of cooperation.

We’re aiming high: the Joint Statement contains concrete commitments on infrastructure, energy, trade and investment, foreign and security policy, research and innovation, culture and the arts.

It reiterates the importance of our role as co‑guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement - the cornerstone of the peace process; the scaffolding underpinning peace, prosperity, and partnership across these islands.

This last year has also seen renewed energy in our relationships with the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales.

I was in Swansea in July to launch the Ireland‑Wales Shared Statement 2030, alongside First Minister Eluned Morgan. A similar framework, outlining an ambitious agenda for cooperation Scotland is next on the agenda, to be launched in Dublin alongside First Minister Swinney this autumn.

All of this is hugely positive.

But, for me, whatever the level of ambition for the British‑Irish partnership, it is only meaningful if it includes, and delivers for, the people of Northern Ireland.

It is only meaningful if it means living up to our commitments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement; tackling difficult issues, making real progress.

Showing that same political courage that the architects of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the Downing Street Declaration and the Good Friday Agreement so clearly demonstrated.

I want to talk in particular about two areas that I believe are central to comprehensively addressing the unresolved wounds of the Troubles - first, tackling paramilitarism; and second, the question of how we address the legacy of historic violence across these islands.

On the first issue, later this month our two governments will jointly appointment an Independent Expert on paramilitary group transition.

The person chosen will examine whether there is merit in, and support for, setting up a structured process of paramilitary group transition to disbandment. They will report within 12 months to both governments.

There is no predetermined outcome to this work. It will be genuinely independent.

I cannot predict the content of the report, nor how the two governments will respond.

What I do know, though, is that Northern Ireland has lived with the scourge of paramilitarism for far too long.

And I know that the Independent Reporting Commission, who have worked for many years on these issues, believe that this is a key step towards comprehensively – finally – ending that scourge.

My government has supported their recommendation for several years – and I am very glad that we now have a partner in London that has been willing to take this chance together.

I believe this is a process that can potentially draw the history of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland to a close. There are no guarantees, of course – and there are many in Northern Ireland that oppose this initiative.

I understand their views, and I respect them.

But 27 years after the Good Friday Agreement, paramilitarism has not gone away.

We need to explore every credible avenue - so that the over 20% of Northern Ireland’s population that report that paramilitaries exert control in the areas that they live, can begin to live their lives without the intimidation, fear, coercive control and violence that they experience on a day to day basis.

On the second issue, exactly a year ago, here at the BIA, my predecessor, Micheál Martin, and the then new Secretary of State – now less new and perhaps slightly more weary! – agreed to try to work together, to see if it was possible to find a common way forward on the legacy of violence.

The two governments had a common point of departure: that the 2023 Legacy Act, as enacted by the previous British government, and as it remains today, was and is not fit for purpose.

Both governments agreed on the need to repeal and replace that Act, and to fundamentally reform the Commission it established; what Micheal Martin last year described as ‘root and branch’ reform.

We then set about trying to design that reform.

There would be a neat symmetry in coming to you today to say that, one year on, we have a final agreement on a new framework to address legacy issues.

Unfortunately, life – and politics – is not quite that neat.

But, as Hilary said at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee earlier this week, we are close to announcing a framework.

And, without going into detail of our negotiations, I will nevertheless highlight some points of particular importance.

First, any agreed framework will be based in the principles of the 2014 Stormont House Agreement - promoting reconciliation; upholding the rule of law; acknowledging and addressing the suffering of victims and survivors; facilitating the pursuit of justice and information recovery; human rights compliant; and balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable. Those principles remain as relevant, and as essential, as they were eleven years ago.

Second - and I know that Hilary and I are at one on this – any and all reformed Legacy mechanisms must be compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The ECHR is a fundamental safeguard in the Good Friday Agreement. It is a core part of the delicate balances in that agreement. It reflects Ireland and the UK’s shared status as founder members of one of the key parts of the European legal and political architecture that emerged from the shadow of the Second World War: the Council of Europe.

The ECHR’s guarantees cannot be negotiated away, despite what some politicians might claim. Sometimes it is necessary to state the obvious: protecting fundamental rights protects everyone. The ECHR does not take sides.

Third, reformed legacy mechanisms must be capable of securing the confidence of those most affected: victims, survivors, and their families.

That confidence cannot and will not be secured immediately, simply on the basis of a written framework. The reformed mechanisms will have to demonstrate that they can deliver for people.

Fourth, while there are differing views on what fundamental reform of the Legacy Act and the ICRIR should look like, in my conversations with victims, families and those who represent them, certain issues have come up over and over again.

The need for independent oversight. For effective representation for victims and families. For robust conflict of interest policies and procedures, established on a statutory basis. A complete overhaul of the disclosure arrangements, to ensure the maximum possible information can be provided to families. The ability to hold public hearings, with next-of-kin participation. The need for a separate cross-border information retrieval body, as foreseen in Stormont House.

Hilary, you mentioned many of these at NIAC on Wednesday. Root and branch reform means comprehensively dealing with all these issues, and more. Both of us are committed to that.

And let me be clear that the ‘more’ will include commitments from my Government, in relation to our obligations in our jurisdiction.

As part of an overall deal between the two governments, I fully intend to deliver on the commitment in our Programme for Government to comprehensively addressing the legacy of the past south of the border.

There’s a lot in that.

I know it will take time to absorb, most specifically for the survivors, families and victims for whom getting this right is so very important.

And I know that we need to allow sufficient space for people to consider it, and interrogate it, and question it, and express their views on it before either government moves definitively to act. We owe that to everyone, from every background and community, who want – and deserve – to be sure that this deal can deliver answers for them and their families.

Friends, colleagues

The work that Hilary and I have been undertaking goes to the heart of fundamental issues facing us across these islands.

It is about recognising enormous past wrongs, and dealing with them.

It is about the pursuit of truth and justice.

It is about trust between citizens and the state.

It is about respect, and about dignity.

I sincerely hope that our two governments can announce a comprehensive framework on legacy. Sometimes the last yards are the hardest. They were forty years ago, as it happens.

And just like the Anglo-Irish Agreement, and just like the Good Friday Agreement, getting over the line will take political courage.

There is so much potential left to unlock in the Good Friday Agreement: reconciliation across these islands, and a more truly Shared Island. We’ve invested energy and time and money and political capital into creating that Shared Island, and we will continue to do so.

Our two governments bear much responsibility for unlocking that potential, as co‑guarantors of the Agreement – so, too, do Northern Ireland’s leaders.

There has been real progress in some areas since the restoration of the Executive last year. There have also been meaningful gestures of reconciliation.

That is important. We should not – and I do not – take that for granted.

But it is also clear that, for some at least, there is dissatisfaction with how devolved government in Northern Ireland is working.

Of course, Northern Ireland is not alone in the challenges that it faces: housing, healthcare, education, climate, infrastructure.

We are all grappling with these issues, and Stormont faces these from a less stable platform than Leinster House or Westminster. The periods of suspension from 2017 to 2020 and 2022 to 2024 are adequate evidence of that instability.

There are ongoing conversations on the question of reform of the devolved institutions, in Stormont and elsewhere. We will look carefully any proposals that emerge.

No matter what they are, though, I am sure of one thing: structural reforms will not substitute for political leadership.

The next Assembly elections are less than two years away. I hope that all parties hold their nerve, not focus too early on electoral considerations, and keep the focus on delivery.

And, vitally, we all need to keep the focus on newer threats to democracy, peace and security. I cannot conclude without mentioning the shocking scenes in Ballymena, Larne, and elsewhere.

Signs saying ‘Locals live here’. Hateful graffiti. Houses ransacked or set alight. Families hiding in their attics.

We have seen this before.

There are people in Northern Ireland and elsewhere on these islands, sectarian entrepreneurs, who see anger as an opportunity, who will happily lead people down this path.

That path leads to a cliff-edge.

The idea of reconciliation on the island of Ireland often feels difficult to pin down. As our societies change and get more diverse, it can feel even more so.

I don’t have an easy answer to exactly what reconciliation looks like in Northern Ireland in 2025 or 2027 or 2030. I don’t think anyone does.

Maybe we need to renew the idea of reconciliation - and our commitment to it - taking account of new divides, as well as old ones.

One final comment. Thursday saw the publication of Paul Murphy’s independent review of the operation of the Windsor Framework. I know the British Government are studying it closely and will respond comprehensively in the months ahead.

Lord Murphy, having served as Minister of State and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was persuaded to emerge from the relative safety of the House of Lords and take on this task, which would inevitably draw fire upon him. It is a mark of decency, integrity and service.

He is an example, like so many more in this room, of those from within Northern Ireland and outside it, who have given so much of their professional lives to support sustainable peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

All of you here have different views about where we are, how we got here and where we are going.

But you are all committed to building a better Northern Ireland. And exactly for that reason, it is a privilege to have this time with you.

I look forward to your questions.

Go raibh míle agaibh.

Thank you.

ENDS

Press Office

5 September 2025