Ms Martina Anderson:

Senators Leyden and Coghlan referred to representation. The negotiations are scheduled to end in March 2019. Under the current allocation, this will mean no more MEPs in the North. However, the first phase of the negotiations is about acquired rights as Irish citizens and, under Article 9 of the treaty, we should receive equal attention, while Article 10 states that we should be directly represented. We would argue that the Irish Government should get additional seats, and not just the one to which Senator Leyden referred, and that these should be on a range of bodies. As Deputy Durkan said, there is sometimes a blame game but all of us have heard horrendous news today, about something which is happening day by day at the moment. Some 30 people - men, women, little boys and girls - have drowned in the Mediterranean because member states want to keep them out rather than keep them safe. The support the Parliament has given to Frontex in this area and the role the latter has played are alarming and shocking. The Mediterranean has, to quote Pope Francis, turned into a "floating cemetery". It is Europe's sinking shame. Shame on all of us who witness it but do nothing about it.

Senator Coghlan spoke about the negotiations. The British Government wants the negotiations to take place in secret but transparency is important. Deputy Martin Kenny referred to elites and Deputy O'Rourke mentioned the disconnect between the EU and its people. The Commission has too much power. It has the power of initiative but it is not an elected body, it is not like the Council and it does not represent the people. There is a list of reforms that need to be made. The Europe citizens' initiative was referenced by Matt Carthy and there was a finding last week of the European Court of Justice in this area. State-aid rules need also to be looked at.

Let there be no doubt about one thing: we want an assembly in the North. We need an assembly predicated on good governance based on respect, equality and integrity. The late Martin McGuinness confounded the naysayers ten years ago by establishing the Executive with the late Ian Paisley. It was Martin McGuinness who called time on the status quoand said that there would be no return to it. Deputies and Senators will agree that an assembly needs to be built on good governance based on respect, integrity and rights.

Deputy O'Rourke also asked about how a special status was being discussed and engaged on. A united Ireland would be a solution to Europe's Brexit problem, as well as being a solution for this island. That is evident for many of those who have engaged with us. My colleagues, Lynn Boylan and Liadh Ní Riada, and I have engaged with hundreds of MEPs about the circumstances of the North, on ensuring that the Good Friday Agreement is protected and preserved in all of its parts and in the context of making sure that there will be no hardening of the Border. It is understood that mitigation is required for the island as regards trade with Britain and Irish unity seems to many people to be the obvious solution. It is a no-brainer. We all have to play a part in taking this forward. I call on the Irish Government to reach out to and engage with the Protestant and unionist-loyalist community who have concerns about their identity being protected in an all-island structure. We need a Green Paper on Irish unity, or something like that, from the Government to guarantee that their rights and entitlements would be respected and upheld and that what happened to the nationalist-republican community in the North will never be foisted on them.