Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ms Mizzi is very welcome to Dublin. I thank her for her very informed presentation. I am concerned about a number of issues. I am aware there was a pre-EU bilateral agreement between Malta and the UK. It has been a central plank of the 27 member states that there would be no bilateral negotiations with the UK. I am not sure whether that is more about teaching the UK a lesson for being the naughty boy in class and leaving the EU without asking our permission or if it is a genuine attempt to act with a single European Union position dealing with an exiting country. I would be interested to hear if bilateral discussions have taken place between the UK and Malta already or if Malta intends to engage in bilateral discussions.

I concur with what Senator Richmond said about bridging the gap with the ordinary man on the street. With all due respect, politicians, both nationally and internationally, have been talking about that for generations, and it must be difficult to find those millions of people because the gap has not been bridged yet. The gap has given rise to the sort of thing we are seeing right across Europe and the United States, namely, the rise of the extreme left and the extreme right and the message has been lost somewhere in the middle of it all. That is something which greatly concerns me.

Defence is another issue that has been increasing in importance in Europe of late and I have some concerns about that. The position of Ireland is very clear: we are a neutral country and that is underpinned in the Constitution. We will not be involved in any European army or anything like it. However, in the context of defence, defence of the citizen is something in which I have a particular interest.

Many of our thugs and criminals have moved to the Mediterranean, particularly to southern Spain, to operate from there. Is Malta interested in pursuing that agenda where we would join police forces to make the forces much stronger than they are currently? I know there is a lot of co-operation but maybe there is not enough.

Education is a problem for Ireland in particular because we have students moving between both jurisdictions. Students from the North of Ireland study in the South and vice versa. People move back and forth daily. That will be a huge problem given the soundings that I heard from the chief negotiator yesterday where he sort of said that he understood the Irish position but he did not exactly break his heart showing that he was going to try to find a solution to the Irish Border. One thing that is for certain is that the North of Ireland, if Brexit goes ahead, will be in another jurisdiction outside of the European Union and, regardless of whether we like it, there will be some form of Border, whether hard or soft. I cannot see any way in which the UK which has exited would have an open border with the Republic of Ireland, nor can I see any way that the Republic of Ireland would accept a border down along the Irish Sea that would segregate the island of Ireland from the UK. There would be a problem for the education sector, in particular for young people who travel across the two jurisdictions. Quite a number of students from Ireland go to Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Gloucester. There is significant crossing over and back in the education area.

In terms of the sympathy that people have for Ireland, sympathy only manifests itself when somebody produces a plan. I believe it will fall to Malta to get the plan in place. Tea and sympathy are no good in this situation. We need a clear plan that will facilitate the unique Irish problem. Malta, as an island nation that understands the UK and where UK residents have holidayed for quite a considerable period, as they have done here, understands the politics of this. Ireland needs more than tea and sympathy. We need a clear plan and Malta must put it in place.

In terms of the peace process, as my colleague has just adverted to, this island is recovering from a period of terrible turmoil and we now enjoy free movement to any part of the island. People from the Republic of Ireland are only beginning to explore the North of Ireland, which is a beautiful part of the world. It would be my deepest concern that people from the EU 26, who really do not know this island or understand the cultures that exist on this island, would make decisions without taking the time to come here and learn a little bit more about them. I would be very anxious that Malta would constantly keep the Irish peace process on the agenda. It took us the best part of 50 years to get it to where it is. Let us not run the risk of losing it. I thank the witness for her time and apologise for asking so many questions.