Ivana Bacik: Parade Decision Risks Renewing Trauma

00:01 I want to welcome our visitors in the gallery who are campaigning for children with additional 00:05 needs. 00:06 And I want to pay tribute to Miriam Lord in the Press Gallery. 00:10 Miriam, you've contributed to the gaiety of the nation significantly, and many of us 00:13 will miss your column on Saturdays, even when we're sometimes the brunt of it. 00:18 Your witty and sometimes barbed words were always a treat to read, so thank you for all 00:23 you did. 00:24 Taoiseach, last Thursday I met with residents of the Garbhaie Road here in Dublin. 00:29 From them I heard directly of their distress at the prospect of the Portadown Orange Order 00:33 marching down the road they call home. 00:36 Now their fears are being realised. 00:38 The grant of permission last Friday by the Parades Commission has reopened seriously 00:42 deep wounds. 00:43 I think we can all be clear, none of this is about infringing on anyone's traditions. 00:47 More than 90% of marches in the North have proceeded without issue. 00:51 But the reason this march has been rightly curtailed for nearly 30 years is the enormous 00:57 horror it causes for a community that has grappled for decades with a legacy of violence. 01:03 Violence linked to so many killings. 01:04 We think of Michael McGoldrick, the Young Quinn brothers, Rosemary Nelson, PC Frank 01:09 O'Reilly and more. 01:11 Taoiseach, we cannot afford to return to that dark past, those grim days of the 1990s. 01:17 Granting permission for the parade was reckless, irresponsible and wrong, with no material 01:22 change in the circumstances that had led to the march being refused on previous occasions. 01:28 Taoiseach, you have said that you want to see calm restored, and I think we all agree 01:31 with that. 01:32 And it seems today that an international mediator may be appointed to intervene in the dispute. 01:38 You said that your government remains in contact with the Executive and with the British Prime 01:43 Minister and Secretary of State, Chris Bryant. 01:46 That's important, and indeed I appealed to the British government to remain closely engaged 01:50 when I spoke at the British Labour Party conference in Liverpool yesterday. 01:54 But Taoiseach, it's a failure of Northern Ireland's political system that the situation 01:58 remains so tense and volatile today. 02:02 And clearly residents may feel well that the institutions set up to protect peace have 02:06 abandoned them. 02:07 So we must not abandon them. 02:10 As co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, you have a role in restoring trust. 02:15 And Taoiseach, we know that there are sinister actors who want to see mediation fail, who 02:19 want to explore the dysfunction in power sharing and devolution, to bring down the institutions 02:24 of the Good Friday Agreement. 02:26 And we cannot allow them to win. 02:28 Proactive steps must be taken to restore trust and calm, as the SDLP has said. 02:33 So Taoiseach, have you asked the PSNI why it told the Parades Commission that the Drum 02:38 Cree Parade could safely take place, as it clearly could not? 02:42 Will you use all diplomatic channels to ensure that the people of Garvaghie Road are not 02:46 subjected to further trauma, and to ensure that the march does not take place? 02:51 And if mediation fails, will you call on the Secretary of State to exercise his powers 02:55 to prohibit a parade under Section 11 of the Public Processions Act 1998? 03:02 First of all, I thank the Deputy for raising this. 03:05 And I would say to you that, again, I concur that nobody wants to go back to the terror 03:12 and trauma of what transpired over 28 years ago, and during that particular period. 03:20 And as I said earlier, I found the events of the past weekend deeply depressing. 03:25 And I think we have to focus on next steps and how we mediate a way through this. 03:33 And I've given my views on the decision. 03:35 I can't, I'm not going to attempt to take the house through that, or indeed through 03:43 whatever rationale the Parades Commission itself has given. 03:46 I think we need to be careful of placing responsibility on the PSNI in terms of that decision. 03:55 I think the PSNI would say there were caveats to that, but I want to take the opportunity 03:59 to pay tribute to PSNI. 04:00 I think John Boettcher, the Chief Constable, had one singular clear objective. 04:06 I think he used the phrase that he didn't want one hair on one head hurt or injured. 04:11 So he's overarching a priority after the court's decision and so on to try and protect human life. 04:18 And that's important. 04:19 And I think we should be clear about supporting the PSNI in that objective and avoiding any 04:24 action that would precipitate injury or harm to people. 04:32 And so I'd make that point. 04:35 And in terms of, the Parading Commission has made its decision. 04:42 And I'm clear that I found it difficult to comprehend. 04:46 I believe it's the wrong decision. 04:48 From our perspective, if you look at 28 years, it's difficult to understand why this year 04:54 it's allowed. 04:55 And even if you go through the very manner in which it was allowed, it seems to suggest 04:58 to me that there are clear issues, if you're only allowing 35, et cetera. 05:03 But I think we need to focus on how we can bring all different dimensions to this together, 05:10 or how we can have a conversation and develop a conversation between the communities involved 05:15 to try and resolve this once and for all, or to get a pathway to resolution of this. 05:22 Because I listened to Chris Nelson this morning, the son of Rosemary Nelson. 05:28 And he articulated the immense trauma that he endured as a result of the murder of his 05:35 But he also, I think he said this morning, we must think of the children of this community 05:41 above and beyond everything else. 05:43 And we just must do everything collectively that we possibly can that avoids any harm 05:47 or any enduring trauma for the younger generation 05:52 of the community in Drumcree, and particularly along the Gavrati Road. 05:57 And that has to be our singular, I think, objective. 06:00 And I think we now need to concentrate on how we get a resolution to this, which will 06:06 not be easy. 06:08 And I think we have to move beyond the fact that decisions are being taken. 06:13 The courts are independent, by the way. 06:15 And I don't care about that. 06:19 But I think if we can engage with the parties involved, I think hopefully we can find a 06:23 way forward. 06:25 Well, I think what was particularly impressive about the calm dignity of the Gavrati Road 06:30 residents when we met them last Thursday was their concern for a younger generation to 06:35 ensure that the dark days of the past wouldn't be repeated for a generation of people who 06:41 had happily grown up under peace and under the Good Friday Agreement. 06:44 And this is why this is now so grim. 06:47 And I do agree with, and indeed welcome, Taoiseach, your strongly worded views on the decision 06:53 of the Parades Commission. 06:54 I think we all share your view that it was an unacceptable and incomprehensible decision. 06:59 And of course, the most important thing is to ensure that nobody is injured or worse 07:03 now. 07:04 But of course, the longer uncertainty prevails, the longer the standoff continues, the worse 07:10 the risk for Gavrati Road residents, for the younger generation, for all of those who 07:14 we had hoped would never experience those horrors again in their lifetime. 07:19 So I think what we would like to know from the opposition side, and for us in the Labour 07:24 Party and our sister party, the SDLP, is what is that pathway you speak of? 07:29 When will the mediator, can we see a way to appoint a mediator as soon as possible? 07:33 And if not, then why aren't we talking about Section 11, which is part of the architecture 07:39 of the Good Friday Agreement? 07:40 It's there in the 1998 legislation, the power of the Secretary of State to prohibit a parade 07:46 without any veto from the PSNI or the Commission, enabling consultation, but no right of veto. 07:54 So the Secretary of State must be prepared to utilise that power rather than run the 07:58 risk of violence on the Gavrati Road. 08:01 And again, could I just acknowledge, of course, the presence of Every Child Matters and the 08:09 and hopefully get a chance to say hello to you later. 08:13 Deputy, I think the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McAtee, has been in constant contact 08:17 all weekend with various parties and with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State. 08:21 I've been in contact with the British Prime Minister. 08:24 And we're well aware of the legislative framework governing actions that the Northern Ireland 08:30 Secretary of State can take, or could take. 08:33 But I do think that the context has to be one where whatever decisions are taken, 08:40 ensure a pathway towards trust and reconciliation between both communities on the ground. 08:49 Otherwise, decisions can get subject to subsequent legal actions as well, as we saw. 08:55 So the contact will continue. 08:59 There hasn't been, I think it's fair to say, I don't think a consensus has emerged, 09:03 clearly, in terms of a pathway forward. 09:06 And people are mindful of the different perspectives and stances that people have on this 09:12 current situation. 09:14 We may regret, and certainly I do, that because of the decision we find ourselves in this 09:18 position, our objective now has to be, collective objective, is to find a way out of it that avoids 09:25 the terrible trauma that we witnessed in the past. 09:27 It would be a singular failure of progress in Northern Ireland if we were to witness 09:31 something similar to that now. 09:37 Thank you.