Seeking a meeting to discuss the Administration’s overall policy regarding the Agreement and the ongoing economic and political instability in Northern Ireland.
Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement
November 11, 2021
Hon. Karen Donfried
Assistant Secretary for European & Eurasian Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, D.C, 20520
Dear Assistant Secretary Donfried:
We are writing to introduce you to the Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement and to seek a meeting with you to discuss the Administration’s overall policy regarding the Agreement and the ongoing economic and political instability in Northern Ireland.
The Ad Hoc Committee was formed in early 2019 by a group of forty Americans who have worked for decades on the Northern Ireland peace process. We were deeply concerned, at the time, that the UK/EU negotiations around the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement would lead to a hard border. We are a bi-partisan group that includes five former Ambassadors and two former Special Presidential Envoys.
Those signing our initial letter to Prime Minister Theresa May in February of 2019 included Jake Sullivan, former Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky, U.S. Senator Gary Hart, former Special Envoy Mitchell Reiss, U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, former NSC Advisor Nancy Soderberg, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley and Ambassador Kevin O’Malley among others.
The GFA was and remains one of America’s great diplomatic achievements in the last two decades. We are deeply concerned that the ongoing political instability is chipping away at the core principles of the GFA and that there will be little left to celebrate as we prepare for its 25th Anniversary in 2023.
We have met with NSC Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat on two occasions and most recently with Under Secretary Zeya. There are three issues that we wish to raise with you:
Amnesty Proposal: In our letter to Prime Minister Johnson of September 8th (which we have attached), we noted that we find this proposal to be at odds with both the spirit and architecture of the Good Friday Agreement and that U.N. human rights experts are raising red flags because of the likelihood of international repercussions if it is enacted. The proposal is so egregious that it has united all the political parties in Northern Ireland in opposition and has led many victims to feel betrayed.
We believe that the passage of this amnesty proposal just before the President’s Summit on Democracies would diminish and undercut the President’s efforts to lift up and sustain global human rights. We met with Under Secretary Zeya in September to express our concerns and hope that your two offices would work together to encourage the British government to amend this amnesty proposal in the interest of protecting global human rights standards.
The Northern Ireland Protocol: We have held over 30 meetings with business, civic, political leaders and key Brexit experts since 2019 regarding the Protocol and its implementation. We believe that the negotiation posture of the UK chief negotiator Lord Frost is appealing to Brexit supporters but that the result is continued political and economic instability in Northern Ireland and a complete lack of trust in current British policies.
The continued friction, which we believe is deliberate, and the imminent threat of invoking Article 16 by Lord Frost is so destabilizing that it is now encouraging new acts of violence by members of the Loyalist community. We do not believe that the UK government is negotiating in good faith regarding the long term interest of the people of Northern Ireland who voted to remain part of the E.U. We were encouraged last June by the President’s decision to issue a formal demarche just before the G7 Cornwall conference. However, this reprimand has had little impact, if any, on the UK’s continued intransigence.
There are many economic benefits that can come from a functioning Northern Ireland Protocol. The fact that exports of Northern Ireland goods to the Republic have risen by over sixty percent in just the last nine months indicates how an all-Ireland economy can grow. As you know, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Richard Neal have made it abundantly clear that there can be no hard border on the island of Ireland and that the United States has a vested interest in ending the continuing friction around the Protocol.
The Appointment of a Special Presidential Envoy: The United States has a long history of active and bipartisan engagement in helping to create and sustain the GFA. We cannot say the same for the current British government which, in many ways, treats Northern Ireland with causal indifference; a political gambit to be used as needed. As a result, the various Strands of the GFA are not fully implemented and Unionist political parties in Northern Ireland continue to threaten to pull down the Executive and the Assembly
We believe, as do many members of the Congress, that the Administration should once again appoint a Special Presidential Envoy to Northern Ireland to demonstrate President Biden’s deep concern about the condition of the GFA. The United States must become more forceful and outspoken in demanding that all parties, including the current British government, make a good faith effort to uphold the core principles of the GFA. If President Biden is to visit Ireland his affection for the Irish people will be on full display. That said, the real work of getting ready for such a Presidential visit must begin now to add new energy and purpose to all aspects of the GFA.
We look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience and we feel some sense of urgency given the fact that the House of Commons may take up the amnesty proposal at the end of this month.
Sincerely,
Congressman James Walsh
Co-Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee
Congressman Bruce Morrison
Co-Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee
c.c. Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya
U.S Consul General Belfast Paul Narain
AdHocGFA.org 