Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----the Act and how it is treated in the context of the withdrawal Bill, I believe that it would be difficult to simply exempt it, but I certainly believe that there needs to be language in any final agreement. The withdrawal Bill is the way in which the British Government is dealing with how it sees Brexit going from a legislative point of view. What actually matters here is the final written agreement between the EU negotiating team and the British negotiating team which we hope will have a sensible and well managed exit over time. The agreements within that should address comprehensively the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the protection of that agreement in law. The answer to that question may develop over time.

There was one other question from Senator Daly on the 50% plus one issue and the comments the Taoiseach made. I read some of the coverage of that and I know exactly what the Taoiseach meant. What he was getting at was that we do not want to promote the idea that as soon as we can achieve a 50% plus one vote here, we go for it without addressing the need to try to reassure communities on both sides and to create an atmosphere that allows broad support for a united Ireland in the future. I am a constitutional nationalist and I am totally unapologetic about that. I would like to see a united Ireland in my lifetime, and, if possible, in my political lifetime.

However, we need to do that in a way that learns the lessons of the past so that we do not send a signal to unionist communities that in the future, they will be the minority and will suffer in the same way many nationalists did in the past. It needs to be a much more generous approach than that and that is what the Taoiseach was talking about when he said we need to try to create an atmosphere that allows a consensus that will deliver a result that goes way beyond 50% plus one. Of course, what he was not doing, which some people interpreted his comments as meaning, was attempting to rewrite the Good Friday Agreement.

There is clarity in what is an international agreement registered with the UN called the Good Friday Agreement. There is clarity on how decisions relating to the future of Northern Ireland will be made democratically by people. If a majority votes for change, under the rules of the Good Friday Agreement, there will be change but our obligation as politicians is to start to lay the foundations and build on the back of reconciliation, reassurance and support for people who may see themselves as minorities in the future who may be discriminated against and who may, therefore, be hugely fearful of that future eventuality and, as a result, fight against it. Surely we have learned that lesson in the past in a hard and very painful way. As a representative of an Irish Government, I really need to reach out and tangibly show that in the context of this debate, we recognise that the unionist communities in Northern Ireland are part of Ireland. They are part of the Irish story and Irish culture, heritage and history. If, in the future, a majority of people choose to change the constitutional make up of the island of Ireland, they will still be part, and a valued part, of our history and will not in any way be discriminated against or victimised because they moved from being a majority to being a minority and their Britishness will also be recognised. We need to talk about the things that would sometimes make nationalists uncomfortable in the context of that recognition and generosity that are needed.

These are the kind of things that this committee will have to debate and discuss in the future and I look forward to being part of that debate. However, there are immediate challenges that take priority over those broader discussions right now that we need to address. They are Brexit, devolved government and legacy issues. Those three issues in particular are immediate issues that we all have an obligation to try to progress for the sake of all the communities in Northern Ireland. My answer on the Border was particularly long but I suspect people needed to hear me say it.