The Ad Hoc Committee seeks to ensure that all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) are honored and fully implemented. This has been a challenge; close to twenty-five years later the GFA is under increased strain. The Stormont Executive is not functioning, the DUP is unwilling to participate in Strand II meetings, and as a result of Brexit, sectarian identity issues have once again come to the fore.
In 2020 the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly were restored to power after three years. In addition, many aspects of the New Decade, New Approach agreement (NDNA) which led to the restoration of the devolved government have yet to be implemented including the very important legacy compromise hammered out by the majority of the political parties that are represented in the Assembly.
The GFA is one of the great diplomatic achievements of the United States in the last two decades and it has always had very strong bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama played an active role in protecting the GFA and President Donald Trump appointed his former Chief-of-Staff Mick Mulvaney as his Special Representative to Northern Ireland. The Ad Hoc Committee monitors how the GFA and the NDNA are implemented with a special focus on legacy issues, a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Ad Hoc Committee continues to closely monitor the ongoing Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union through a wide range of contacts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
In 2021 the Ad Hoc Committee pursued an active agenda in meeting with key American, British and Irish leaders. These meetings included:
- U.K. officials – Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis (2x), former NI SOS Julian Smith, Labor Shadow Secretary Louise Haigh, Deputy British Ambassador Michael Tatham on several occasions and Jonathan Powell, the chief negotiator for the United Kingdom during the Good Friday negotiations
- Key Biden Administration officials – National Security Council Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat (2x), Under Secretary for Human Rights Uzra Zeya, Assistant Secretary for Europe Karen Domfried, U.S. Consul General Liz Trudeau and the new Consul General Paul Narain (2x)
- We met with leadership of every political party in Northern Ireland including the DUP, Sinn Fein, Alliance and the SDLP and with former Minister for Justice Claire Sudgen in addition to working to meet with Loyalist leaders like David Campbell. We have established a good relationship with the new leadership of the UUP Doug Beattie and Mike Nesbitt and met with them on two occasions
- Briefings were held with Brexit expert Katy Hayward, NI Ireland Brexit Business Working Group, NI Ireland Civic leadership group, members of the Victims and Survivors Commission as well as AMBIT community workers
- We maintain an ongoing relationship with Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall
- Ambassador Susan Elliot and the leadership of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy have consistently extended themselves in arranging for meetings in NYC with NI leaders,
In 2022 the Committee has continued its robust series of engagements meeting:
- U.S. Senator Chris Murphy
- U.S Consul General in Belfast Paul Narain
- New American Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin
- Monica McWilliams and Mitchell Reiss, members of the International Reporting Commission (IRC) on the recent publication of the IRC’s fourth report on paramilitary activity
- In March Ad Hoc will meet with the President of Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald T.D. and Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill
AdHocGFA.org 