I thank Deputy McDonald for bringing forward this Bill. Having consulted with my colleague, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, Mal O'Hara, I will support the Bill on Second Stage to allow this debate to continue. My support on this Stage should not be conflated with endorsement of any one party's framing of the constitutional issue. That issue is bigger than us all and everybody, from the ground up, must be involved in the conversation. A grassroots approach to ensuring that the voices of all communities are adequately heard and represented is essential in planning for any potential change. Any such planning must also include unequivocal support for the Good Friday Agreement in its entirety. The consent principle is non-negotiable and any future constitutional change must take place strictly within the agreement's existing voting and consent mechanism. There should be no suggestion of altering or diluting these safeguards. The memory of the Troubles remains a fresh wound in the minds of many and in order to ensure any peaceful outcome or transition, all citizens must be treated equally and given their say. That would be best done by consulting people directly through a citizens' assembly, as is proposed by this Bill, and also in the recommendations of the 2024 report from the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The Green Party is an all-island one. We get votes in Bangor and Blanchardstown, Larne and Lismore, Newtonards and Navan. As voters in Northern Ireland look to alternatives to the sectarian policies that have kept Stormont from governing effectively, my colleagues in the Green Party Northern Ireland are seeing increasing support across all communities. Some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as energy and climate, are ones that cannot be contained within borders. The island of Ireland is a single, biodiverse unit and the Green Party has consistently advocated for increased co-operation across a range of issues. With that in mind, any proposed Green Paper should explicitly address issues that affect everybody, irrespective of their constitutional preference. Climate and nature, renewable energy systems, water and environmental protection, tackling poverty, protecting human rights and improved cross-Border public services are practical, all-island challenges and they require that level of co-operation, irrespective of future constitutional arrangements. The constitutional change must be codesigned with all sides in Northern Ireland's communities involved. It cannot be confined to the territorial question alone; it should examine democratic reform, governance and institutional design. The Green Party believes that the question of institutional design is fundamental. To date, the Assembly in Northern Ireland has only passed 15 Bill in its 2022-2027 mandate. The current system is not serving the people of Northern Ireland. We will be supporting this Bill today. Sensible preparation should not be mistaken, however, for advocating a pre-determined constitutional outcome. A real opportunity exists now to build on existing work and to have detailed, respectful conversations on these issues. I hope that the Government will pay real attention to this Bill and move to set up the frameworks that will support this historic dialogue.

Sentiment score: 0.36