Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 4 October 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs

Engagement on the Future of Europe (Resumed): European Movement Ireland, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Assocation and Macra na Feirme

2:00 pm

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief as I have just two supplementary questions. I thank both witnesses for their responses and I agree with almost everything they said.

Earlier the word "Eurosceptic" was raised and I appreciate the context in which it was raised. It was also mentioned earlier that the debate often comes down to a "them and us" type of debate and that feeds into the notion of labelling people as Eurosceptics and putting them all into one box. I know many people who are Eurosceptic but do not want Ireland to leave the European Union. Sometimes it cuts both ways. People who are more enthusiastic about Europe also have to recognise that simply because people have a difficulty with elements of Europe does not make them anti-European or anti-Europe. In fact, sometimes it is quite the reverse because they are genuinely interested in wanting to build a different type of Europe. We have to allow that type of discourse and understand it.

I also agree that we should not allow ourselves in Ireland to be defined by Brexit in terms of how we see the European Union. Something has happened with Brexit that is relevant to this debate on the future of Europe and it is as follows. We have to listen to people and engage with them. One of the issues that was at the heart of the Brexit debate, if we want to be honest, was immigration. People had a fear of immigration. I come from a political viewpoint where I see immigration as positive. I believe in multiculturalism and I believe immigration enriches society. When people express their concerns to me about immigration I listen and engage but, unfortunately, sometimes we do not, we shout them down, label them as racists and lose the argument. The same applies to Europe. The way to talk about the future of Europe is not to immediately see somebody who has a different viewpoint on Europe as Eurosceptic or as somebody who wants Ireland to leave the European Union. That is the type of environment we need to create.

Earlier I made the point that my party would have been seen as more critical than others of the European Union. However, all parties are now more critical particularly when one considers such issues as consolidated taxation and so on, mainly because it impacts more now on issues that affect them, maybe less than when it was social issues. Now the issues are more economic so people are more alert to them. That is fine but they are still engaging critically with Europe and that is healthy.

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