Micheál Martin: Good Friday Agreement changed our 'Brits out' mentality

Former British premier, Tony Blair and then taoiseach Bertie Ahern signing the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Picture: Dan Chung/PA Wire

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has revealed he came from a “Brits out” background but has gained a “different perspective” since meeting young Unionists.

Mr Martin made the comments in a video aired at Fianna Fáil’s Commemoration of 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement in UCD last night in which he gave a keynote address reflecting on the achievements of the Agreement.

In his speech, Mr Martin also paid tribute to former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern who attended the event.

Mr Martin said it wasn’t until he met young Unionists that gave him a different perspective on their concerns.

“I would have come from a background that would have been sort of ‘Brits out’ or whatever I found in this kind of simple sloganeering,” Mr Martin said.

“But I realised when I met young Unionists in particular that there was a different perspective, a different way of looking at things from their side.

“We were Brits out: anti-partition was the sloganeering, but nothing was being done to deal with it.

“And on the Northern side, you had a partition of state, which was a state that was very discriminatory against one side of the community.

“Therefore, the Good Friday Agreement was the moment and the lead up to it where both traditions really came together under the aegis of the two governments as well, worked out the constitutional stuff, but also created pathways to try and reconcile those historic divisions,” he added.

The Tánaiste who was a member of the government when the agreement was signed on April 10, 1998 said it was a significant day and recalled as a child, he never thought peace would come to pass.

“I remember that historic day in the Cabinet when the decision came through that we had everybody more or less on board in respect of that agreement.

“And it was a very, very significant day. Around that time, I looked back at the young me who never thought that this would happen,” he said.

The commemorative event last night included a short film featuring contributions from former US President Bill Clinton, ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Mr Martin, who established the Government’s Shared Island Initiative, said this anniversary of the historic agreement is not only about looking back but also about looking forward and "pivot quickly to the future and look at economic, political, social and cultural opportunities that arise and really go for it now, for the next decade or two."

Mr Martin said it was right for Fianna Fáil to acknowledge “our own leaders and major figures” and without them, none of the progress would have been possible.

He said it is “unquestionable” that the coming into office of the Labour government of Tony Blair and the Fianna Fáil-led government of Bertie Ahern was an essential catalyst for reaching a comprehensive agreement.

He said it was “a privilege” to serve in Cabinet during the agreement and to support what he described as “the truly remarkable work of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on behalf of our country.”

“With the eyes of the world on him, and working hand in hand with two major international leaders in Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, he showed a skill and determination which helped deliver genuinely historic progress,” he added.