Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Ahern is very welcome. I appreciate his contribution in which his many years of ministerial experience within the European project was very evident. His on-the-ground knowledge as someone who lives so close to the Border also came across strongly. As much as we have studied Brexit, he has been able to identify through personal experience things which have not been mentioned in the previous meetings I have been at. Simple things like roaming charges are examples of the many things that will come up as the thing progresses and which nobody can predict.

From 23 June, the day after the vote was taken, people started to suffer consequences immediately in Border areas and in specific industries, in particular the mushroom industry which exports across the Border and across the sea to England where it is tied into sterling contracts. They will continue to suffer as long as the negotiations continue. There is a great deal of prediction about hard and soft Brexit and what the outcome may be, but what is guaranteed is that while this is all going on there will be an air of instability and currency fluctuation. Predictions left, right and centre will influence Mr. Ahern's area. As someone who lives in the Border area, how should we be directing that? What changes to state-aid rules should we seek and what supports should be available from the EU in the immediate here and now rather than post-Brexit for situations like this? I am a regular visitor to Dundalk through my passion for horse racing. When one is there on a Friday night, every second accent one hears is a Northern Irish one. As such, how is the tourism industry going to be affected given the fluctuations in sterling and so on?

As someone who has been out there for so long negotiating, what is Mr. Ahern's opinion of the following? When David Cameron went to the EU to get a package to put to the English people, was the EU too hard? Did the EU not think the English would follow through on this? If it got a second bite of the cherry in the current situation with the English having voted for Brexit, might the EU provide a bit more flexibility so that the referendum could be revisited? I am interested in Mr. Ahern's views as someone who lives on the Border, wearing both the political and the local caps.