Ireland’s Future: Bipartisan Support for Good Friday Agreement: A Constant in a Changing World

Bipartisan Support for Good Friday Agreement: A Constant in a Changing World

a Chara,

Hello from a very wet New York after a couple of days in Washington D.C. By the time you get this, I’ll have landed back in a very wet Ireland. I was once given great advice to invest in a good raincoat, advice that has kept my right and dry for years.

This has been a short and intense trip following the elections in Ireland and the US. Both Washington and Dublin are in a period of transition, however, the transition in Dublin to a new government looks like more of the same old, same old.

This week Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael formally started government formation talks. They have also opened up talks with the Irish Labour Party to make up the numbers needed to form a government and in order to secure a majority.

It is expected that government formation talks will continue into the new year and be concluded by the middle to late January. For two parties with very similar policy platforms that have just finished a term in government together, it is strange that these talks will stretch on for over six weeks. The negotiation appears to be more for the optics as the parties divvy up ministerial positions.

In Washington, the Trump transition team has begun to set out priorities and personnel for appointments. In Congress, the Republicans and Democrats are in the process of selecting committee chairs and members, with the Republicans enjoying slim majorities in the House and Senate.

In our engagements with supporters, labor leaders, and in Congress, bipartisan support for our peace agreements and progress remained a constant in a changing world.

In a divided Congress, political progress and the Good Friday Agreement have always been a unifying platform. Both Democrats and Republican administrations and Congresses have acted to secure, protect, and promote the Good Friday Agreement. It was and remains an American foreign policy success story, a story co-authored by both parties.

While the process of government formation continues in Dublin and Washington, the opportunity continues to progress the discussion on Irish Unity. There is an opportunity to raise with the incoming Irish Government how they intend to promote Irish Unity and prepare and plan for the unity referendums promised in the Good Friday Agreement. A programme for government in Dublin absent solid commitments on unity referendums is a denial of the right of people to have a democratic process to determine their future and of the constitutional imperative for Irish unity.

Have a great weekend, and stay dry.

Is mise,

Ciarán

Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America