Ms Martina Anderson:

Those of us who went through what happened will not allow the Agreement to be re-opened, renegotiated, reworked or rewritten in any way. We know the damage and danger of doing that and where it would take us.

The committee members are probably aware of the key priorities, given that they have been outlined: citizenship and people; finance; and Ireland. Much focus and attention are being given to the situation in Ireland. Europe is very aware of the peace process, including the political process and the Good Friday Agreement. It has contributed to peace funding via PEACE I, II, III and IV. We all have particular views on Europe and the need for Europe and we critics engage with the EU. It needs reform and there are differences in opinion as to how that reform should proceed. Today, however, I will focus primarily on the implications of Brexit.

The negotiations will follow a four-week cycle or rhythm. The first week will be the preparation stage, which will involve the European Parliament. The second week will be an exchange of documents between the EU and the British Government. The third week will entail four or five days of intensive negotiation and the fourth week will see a debriefing, which will involve the European Parliament again. The European Parliament will book-end every four-week period.

There is a clustering of committees. The first round of negotiations, which will deal primarily with citizens' rights, will involve the employment committee, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, LIBE, of which I am a member, and the Committee on Legal Affairs, JURI. Like Senator Ó Donnghaile, I have an Irish passport. I do not have a British passport. In fact, I have two Irish passports because I have been afforded the opportunity to have a diplomatic passport by the Irish Government. I speak on behalf of more than 500,000 in the North who have Irish passports. Therefore, we are EU citizens and the issue of reciprocal rights must be addressed in the context of preserving and protecting the rights of those in the North.

There must be public debate. We got the issue of transparency included in the negotiations, so we must advance the public debate when the negotiations formally commence until 19 June. If there are to be four strands of focus in the negotiations and one of those is the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts, we call on the Irish Government to ensure that there is no hardening of the Border. We hear nonsense about a "frictionless" Border, whatever that means, and other terminology. We cannot have a hardening of the Border.

The EU refers to the need to protect the integrity of the Single Market. Obviously, it does not want cheap and unregulated produce coming from Britain. Britain is not self-sufficient in terms of food, so the concern is that Britain will engage in trade deals to import cheap food that will not meet the same regulatory standards. Therefore, the whole island of Ireland will need to be protected.

We must consider where the Border can and should be located. The South will need mitigation measures, including financial support.

If a border is erected, it should be in the Irish Sea, not on the island of Ireland. As Senator Ó Donnghaile and others have touched on, if the Good Friday Agreement is to count for anything, the principle of consent needs to be considered. We were guaranteed in the Agreement that the constitutional position of the island and of the North would not change unless we gave our consent. That was a big pill for republicans - who believe that the country and the people are sovereign - to swallow but we swallowed it in the context of the support for the Agreement. We did not consent to Brexit. This will be the biggest constitutional change to happen in Ireland since partition. We need to engage and talk about how to take forward the choice that has been given to us and outlined in the Agreement through a unity poll because it is clear with each passing day that an increasing number of people are talking about what form and shape the new Ireland would take. We need to engage those who have concerns about that. We would like the Government to adopt the position of the Dáil to seek special designated special status for the North within the EU. The majority voted for that and the majority of political parties in the Assembly are anti-Brexit. We need to ensure that becomes the Government's position. I could talk for Ireland on this issue and I appreciate the opportunity to engage with the committee.