Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Dr. Coughlan here today. I believe it is good that he challenges the mainstream thinking on these issues. I am sure it is not just for the sake of that he is doing it but it is always good to be challenged to think about things that we may take for granted or as the norm. My initial reaction to his proposition is that having followed the issue and seeing how it is being dealt with by the UK, it appears that Dr. Coughlan is proposing that Ireland aligns itself with people who do not really have a clue as to what direction they are going. Theresa May made many statements, including on removing the UK from the customs union and the Single Market, but they are all qualified with platitudes around giving an impression of a soft Border, whatever that might be. There are so many contradictions within those positions. We also see in the UK that some of the rhetoric is unravelling when one considers the polls during the current general election hustings. If Jeremy Corbyn were to announce another referendum tomorrow we might see a more substantial shift. That is just my own view. Mr. Corbyn is obviously making a lot of inroads that were unanticipated by some of the pundits.

Part of our economic recovery after the troika has left and what we have built or carved out for ourselves is as a small, open economy that has shown and proven its success in attracting foreign direct investment and is capable of trading and dealing on the international stage. I wonder about Ireland aligning itself with the UK.

Ireland and the UK together is a much smaller market than the European Union. If we were in direct competition with the EU, which is what Dr. Coughlan's proposal would bring about, how would the EU not have more leverage than Ireland and the UK?

Of course, there is the historical situation between Ireland and Britain, which I know to a great extent we have put in the past, but it is my view that the British politicians and Brexiteers who were to the fore in this did not give a damn about Northern Ireland, pardon my language. Theresa May mentioned it, but Britain would have been a disgrace if it had not given some nod towards and made some acknowledgement of the importance of trying to maintain the very hard won peace in Northern Ireland. I do not think the people to the fore have any social conscience about our economic or social condition or about anybody else. This is a concern. Will we not go against where we have positioned ourselves and where we have shown we are able to grow by circling the wagons with the UK? It is a debate on globalisation and what it means for individual countries. It seems it would go against the very areas where we have made strides and where we have been successful in the economic recovery.

Dr. Coughlan's paper contends that if the South remains in the EU but the UK leaves, any future Irish unification would mean the whole of Ireland could become part of an EU security military bloc under German leadership or control. I do not understand this. We all know our neutrality is a qualified position, notwithstanding people beating their chests about how neutral we are. At the end of the day, our interests are aligned with western powers and countries. When we look at world security, the people campaigning against western democracy do not distinguish us from any of these western powers. We are all the same as far as they are concerned. The reality is that even in a tacit way we support many of the activities. I am minded of what happened in Libya. Even though we are a neutral country, everybody in this country supported that Gaddafi should be taken out. I did not support it, but anyhow there was general consensus it was in the interests of the citizens. To my mind it was a civil war. The issue of neutrality is not very honestly spoken about in my view. How is our current fluffy position going to be interfered with by virtue of the UK leaving and us remaining in the EU? I do not understand what Dr. Coughlan means.