Slugger guest writer Gary Kent attended a recent meeing of a body that is rarely reported within the media that he believes could provide an important non-executive government back channel for the development of greater British-Irish political understanding.
The low media profile of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body lies in its success. When it began in 1990, British-Irish relations had been deeply poisoned by the Troubles and its sessions, some of which had to be held in camera, were marked by rancour and bitterness. The habit of meeting twice a year since then has shaved these embittered edges and while there are still disagreements on the peace process, they appear to be more tactical than principled.
The last meeting of the Body took place in Kilkenny over last weekend and was attended by nearly 70 parliamentarians from around these islands.
There was a general debate on the need for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The motion was rather bland and was only enlivened by the British Conservative Peer, Robin Glentoran, seeking to amend it to place the bulk of the blame for the current hiccough on Sinn Fein/IRA. The former Northern Ireland Minister, Lord Alf Dubs also made a powerful plea for support for integrated education.
The Irish Foreign Minister, Brian Cowen addressed the Body with a thoughtful and substantial speech but overall the Body debated the issue in the dark given that the current all-party negotiations have gone underground until possibly the end of April.
A key issue raised with Cowen was the fate of the exiles. Two Labour MPs, from either side of the Irish Sea, had coincidentally tabled similar questions. They wanted the debate about the possibility of various Provisional IRA fugitives – the so-called “on-the-runs” to enable a discussion on the rights of up to 4,500 people forcibly expelled by both sets of paramilitary organisations to return home, without fear. Significantly, Cowen said that this would be a “litmus test” of normalisation.
Another reason why the Body tends to be bland, and therefore is not covered widely in the press, is the continuing absence of any unionists. They have long boycotted the Body since they claim that it was part of the paraphernalia of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. In fact, they have always been wrong on this score. The Body was devised in the early 1980s in talks between Mrs Thatcher and Charles Haughey. It was then added to the 1985 Agreement.
Before its last meeting, I asked the Unionist Peer, John D Taylor, why unionists would not be attending the meeting. His response was characteristically blunt and humorous. He quipped – “is there an Irish Rugby match on that weekend?” He suggested that members of the Body would receive free tickets (they didn’t) and added that “The Body is a totally superfluous organisation. It was set up to assist the Anglo-Irish Agreement process, which has now been scrapped under the Good Friday Agreement. The Body should have been done away with at the same time. It has been replaced by a whole variety of north-south and east-west institutions. It’s simply a jolly for people.”
But this approach is not necessarily shared more widely within unionism. However, there is a decent argument, for unionists as well as others, that a lively backbench inter-parliamentary Body which includes representatives from all parts of these islands will be a useful counterweight to the east-west bodies in which ministers meet behind closed doors and then issue communiqu�s.
British-Irish relations have improved remarkably over the last 20 years. It is unlikely that they will ever deteriorate to the low level that they were once. But this has to be worked at and sustained. The British-Irish Body could play a highly important role within that and the unionists would also be able to use it to broadcast their concerns, make friends throughout these islands and also pursue their own constituency and regional interests, as the Irish representatives already so.
The Body not only discusses Northern Ireland but a whole host of issue of mutual interest including European fisheries policy, tourism, harmonisation of, for instance, the penalty points for motoring offences on the island of Ireland and the environment. Sellafield has been regularly raised by Irish TDs who are angered by the release of toxic waste from the nuclear power station into the Irish Sea.
The next meeting of the Body takes place in October in England. Hopefully, by then, the Belfast Agreement will no longer be mothballed, the Assembly will be up and running and unionists will take their places alongside parliamentarians from Britain and Ireland as well as Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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