Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to see the Minister, Mr. Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, here again. It was always a pleasure to meet him on the committee's trips to Belfast and Northern Ireland.

Deputy Brendan Smith outlined that in 2012 we went to the Skainos centre in east Belfast as part of the PEACE programme.

It was the most wonderful day when the Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness, and the First Minister in Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson, shared the same stage. It was the first time Martin McGuinness was on official business in that part of east Belfast. We left feeling this was the most wonderful day one could ever have and the Troubles were over. Less than two weeks later, the flags protest broke out.

I am normally an optimistic person but I am concerned. The United Kingdom, as I said before, is in denial. Then there is a devolved Northern Ireland Legislature in which one party, the DUP, campaigned for Brexit while Sinn Féin campaigned to remain. Mr. Máirtín Ó Muilleoir’s statement to the committee today is anaemic. While I appreciate he can only discuss the fiscal implications for Northern Ireland, we in the Republic are taking the Brexit decision very seriously and we had no vote whatsoever. It is the perfect storm but everyone seems to have gone missing. I am concerned that we have to be inside Europe for negotiations but also negotiating on behalf of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and, effectively, the United Kingdom.

This does not look good. I hate saying it but the British establishment and those who campaigned to remain in Europe have thrown their hands up in the air while those who campaigned to leave are running the establishment. One does not have to be a genius to say we are in a serious situation with the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland, the island of Ireland and the United Kingdom. I do not know what we can do. Again, we have to think, like Deputy Brendan Smith and Taoiseach have said, about an all-Ireland forum or even a forum in a wider context. Everyone is in their own little silos now but there are problems coming down the road very fast.