Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They are very quick and concise observations more than anything else. While we all agree with the sentiment relating to special status, we must concede that one of the key components must be the retention of our membership of the Single Market. As has already been stated, there are different views regarding the common travel area and how that will work out. In the context of the economics of it, if we lose that, then táimid i bponc and we will be in big trouble.

It is not very often that I disagree with Senator Craughwell but I believe that we have been disenfranchised.

The reason we have been disenfranchised is, ironically given the point he made, the Good Friday Agreement. When people both in the North and the South endorsed the Agreement overwhelmingly, it was agreed and accepted that there would be no change in the constitutional arrangements, unless it was consented to by the people. The people who had an opportunity to vote in the referendum voted to remain within the European Union. The Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament has indicated that, in its view, the Good Friday Agreement will have to be altered as a result of the Brexit vote. Therefore, we have been impacted on uniquely and it is because of the Agreement that Northern Ireland is not like Scotland, England or Wales. The primacy of the Agreement, North and South, means that we are being disenfranchised and the constitutional status is being altered. Therefore, the Agreement is being subverted against our will. I do not necessarily want to put the organisation on political ground because I know that it tries to avoid it. However, for me, the most logical special status would involve an outworking of the Good Friday Agreement, that is, reunification, which would allow us all to retain our place within the European Union. That is not to simplify the issue, but nevertheless it should be part and parcel of moving forward.