Benn to use speech to declare ‘new chapter’ in UK-Irish relations
The Northern Ireland Secretary is to deliver the keynote address at the annual British-Irish Association Conference in Oxfordshire.
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Your support makes all the difference.Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn is to set out the Government’s commitment to a “new chapter” in UK-Ireland relations.
Mr Benn is due to deliver a keynote address at the annual British-Irish Association Conference in Oxfordshire later on Saturday.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and Ireland’s deputy premier Micheal Martin are also attending the conference.
Mr Benn will use his speech to underline the new Labour Government’s commitment to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State will say: “Let me be clear, the Government’s commitment to the Good Friday Agreement is absolute.
“Our support for the European Convention on Human Rights, which underpins the Good Friday Agreement, is unwavering.
“And we will implement the Windsor Framework in good faith, not least because to do anything less would jeopardise the progress that has been made on the island of Ireland.”
Mr Benn will also say that parties in Northern Ireland must realise further suspensions of the Stormont powersharing institutions cannot be allowed to happen.
As co-guarantors of the agreement, it is also incumbent upon us to uphold the devolved institutions
The Assembly and Executive returned in February after a two-year collapse caused by the DUP withdrawing from the powersharing coalition in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Mr Benn will say: “As co-guarantors of the agreement, it is also incumbent upon us to uphold the devolved institutions, to ensure they endure and that they act for all the people in Northern Ireland.
“Surely the Northern Ireland political parties must recognise that this can never be allowed to happen again, and were it to occur, our two governments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, along with the parties, would need to find a new way forward.”
The Northern Ireland Secretary will also acknowledge the “deep upset and anger” caused by the previous UK government’s controversial Act to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
Labour has pledged to repeal and replace the Act and Mr Benn has met with the families of Troubles victims on the issue.
He will underline his commitment to working with the Tanaiste Mr Martin on repealing the Legacy Act.
While achieving full consensus on legacy issues may simply not be possible, I ask everyone to acknowledge that this is a Government with a new approach
Mr Benn will say that there is more the Government can do to strengthen the independence and powers of a new truth recovery body established by the Act, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
The Northern Ireland Secretary will also say the ICRIR should have the capacity for effective co-operation with the Garda over legacy investigations.
He will say: “While achieving full consensus on legacy issues may simply not be possible, I ask everyone to acknowledge that this is a Government with a new approach, and we need a spirit of compromise.”
Closing his speech, Mr Benn will call on both the UK and Ireland “to be bold, and take inspiration from those who made the impossible possible 26 years ago”.
The British-Irish Association Conference coincides with a visit by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to Dublin.
It will be the second time Sir Keir has met with Taoiseach Simon Harris since Labour came to power.
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