Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Bertie Ahern for attending the committee. As my colleague Senator Paul Daly pointed out, his experience is unparalleled in any of the Houses.

Regarding strand 3 of the Good Friday Agreement and his interpretation of it, would it allow us to do bilateral discussions, negotiations and agreements on many of the issues which affect us as a consequence of Brexit? We have been told we have to be part of the EU bloc in the negotiations and we cannot do any bilateral agreements or discussions. Would this apply to the idea of Northern Ireland having a special status, given Gibraltar has been given a special status from the Spaniard's point of view? Should we have got a veto on Northern Ireland in the same way as Spain has?

The Taoiseach has also said the EU needs to prepare for a united Ireland. The British ambassador was before European affairs committee recently, chaired by our Seanad colleague, Senator Terry Leyden. On the provision in the Good Friday Agreement which would allow for reunification, I asked the ambassador if the UK would allow that to be in the final agreement between the UK and the EU, as the Taoiseach has sought at meetings with his European colleagues. The ambassador’s response was less than positive. I fail to understand it because the Good Friday Agreement is an international agreement. I cannot see why the UK would not allow for provisions of it, to which it has signed up, to be included in another international agreement.

On the issue of the North and unification, the UN human development index ranks Ireland sixth in the world in terms of health, education and income and ranks the UK at 14th. The Oireachtas Library and Research Service did an analysis of where Northern Ireland ranks on the UN human development index. It showed, prior to Brexit, that it was 44th in the world but, as a result of Brexit, it is likely to go below 50th, joining the likes of Kazakhstan. Already the EU has said that Northern Ireland is one of the ten poorest regions in Europe. Does Mr. Bertie Ahern believe the economic argument for unification would be made? It is a credible argument, given those figures. How do we go about that, as outlined in Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution and the amendment to them? As T.K. Whitaker said in 1968, it is a long-term and slow process, of which Mr. Bertie Ahern is well aware from negotiating the Good Friday Agreement. Where does he see the achievement of Articles 2 and 3 and a united Ireland going as a result of Brexit?