Mr. Máirtín Ó Muilleoir:

As Irish society north of the Border moves to the light, following many tough and dark years, Europe has been a great partner in that, not only around the protection of workers' rights and protecting the equality of opportunity in the workplace but also around diversity and making sure we cherish and embrace every member of our society, especially those, both North and South, who heretofore may have been cast to the side. To turn our backs on that and leave ourselves at the mercy of a Tory Government - which is what we would be at the mercy of - and the worst elements of extreme Little England, whether north of the Border or in Britain, would be a political mistake of enormous proportions. Anyone who thinks that this is a new dawn for workers' rights or anyone's rights, for diversity and for the peace process, needs to think again. The place to be is with the Roma community in south Belfast. Around 1,000 of them work in Moy Park. It is very tough work and many of them work a night shift. The place to be is standing beside people like that, beside the diverse communities in Belfast, whether it be the LGBT community or another community, and those who have not got a fair shake in the past. Europe, for all its flaws, has always been a great ally and partner in moving us towards the light. We will all act in our self-interest but I appeal to this committee, to the Deputies and Senators not to allow us to be left to the mercy of the Tories, the Nigel Farages of this world and their bedfellows in the time ahead.