Mr. Stephen McCann:

As the committee will know, local authorities have a duty of care to those people who live and work in their respective council areas. As elected members, we wish to do our very best for those who have put their faith in us. Thus we are collectively working together to ensure the needs of the Border corridor are reflected and prioritised during the Brexit negotiations. The fact that we, as local authorities on both sides of the Border, have recognised the common challenges which we face and are prepared to work together to address them, is testimony to the value of cross-Border co-operation in the past few years. This capacity has been supported by the peace process and the European Union.

The Border local authorities in the North are acutely aware that, although our Border counterparts in the South had no part to play in the decision to leave the European Union, they are already feeling the impact. This is as a result of the sharp fall in sterling. Many small businesses, the backbone of the Border corridor, have already closed, most notably in the mushroom industry.

While this situation is worrying, the Border study has found that an economic border would be detrimental not only to the Border corridor, but to the island of Ireland as a whole. We have given the committee a snapshot of the impact during our presentation. As a Border corridor, we must influence not only the Irish Government but also Stormont, London and Brussels, to ensure this does not happen. We ask the committee to use all of its resources in this regard and to think carefully about the solutions we have posed. The people of the Border corridor deserve clarity about what the future will hold. As elected members from the Border councils, we know that our respective communities will be most impacted by Brexit. Irrespective of what part of the 500 km border one lives on, the outworkings of Brexit will be keenly felt.

While economic certainty is important, political certainty is essential for our Border corridor to thrive. We cannot jeopardise the peace process for which we have all worked so hard. Our children and grandchildren’s lives depend on decisions which will be taken in the next few years. It is our duty to get this right and it is the contention of the Border corridor local authorities that, in order to do this, all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement must be maintained. I will make no apology for reinforcing the point that all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement must be maintained.

The Border corridor local authorities would welcome the opportunity to brief the incoming Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, on the serious issues which we have outlined today. We believe it is important that the needs of the people of the Border region continue to be reflected at the highest levels in the Government. We again thank the committee for the opportunity to present the case of the Border corridor to it.