Ms Martina Anderson:

Táim iontach sásta bheith os comhair an choiste inniu. I am delighted to be present. This is the first time that I have had an opportunity to present to the committee. As members know, Brexit negotiations formally commence on 19 June, 11 days after the election. It is important that we get a clear and, where possible, united view among everyone here not just among MEPs or committee members, but across all political parties in Leinster House.

Brexit is incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement. Of that there is no doubt, and we must all be clear on that point. Consider the strands of the Agreement. For instance, the Assembly does not have the power to establish its own laws. That is incompatible with EU law. Of the six North-South implementation bodies over areas of co-operation, take the Food Safety Promotion Board as an example. How do we deal with the prospect of having two different regulatory standards on this island? That is where the damage will begin.

The British Government is driving towards a hard Brexit, which means a hard Border and hardship for the people of this island, particularly in the North. We have had benign soundbites about there being no hard Border, but we must ensure that, as the European Parliament's resolution stated, there is no hardening of the Border.

Senator Leyden mentioned our relatively small number of MEPs, yet we were able to secure 516 MEPs' support for the preservation of the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts. That means something - that there would be no hardening of the Border and the unique and special circumstances. We have been on a diplomatic offensive since before the vote.

I will give the committee an insight into the negotiations. I am working closely with the steering committee in the European Parliament and other MEPs have relationships with some of its members. We have been able to insert into the negotiations the issues of transparency, strengthening the reference in the Council guidelines to rights and standards and the requirement that nothing undermine the objective and commitment of the Good Friday Agreement. Regarding a point that Senator Ó Donnghaile raised, this competes and conflicts with a report from the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs, AFCO, which asserted that Brexit required an alteration to the Good Friday Agreement. That is a no-go area.