Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the MEPs for attending. There is a huge opportunity cost for them to spend time here in light of their massive constituencies. I am sure they have plenty of work to do. It is good that everybody is wearing the same green jersey on Brexit as our Government, which has done a tremendous job so far. The representation we have in Europe has been excellent across the board.

On the future of Europe, the conversation that has begun, with public meetings being held throughout the country, is good. It is good to bring Europe to the people for good or bad. Whatever comes out of the process, let us hear it. Like Deputy Haughey, I would be interested in Ms McGuinness telling us about new allies as we move towards a new Europe. Clearly, we are losing a major ally and, therefore, we will have to sectionalise our allies with different allies on finance, agriculture, etc.

Ms Clune mentioned transport, which is a serious concern. A number of haulage companies have mentioned to me that they have will difficulty crossing a third country in a post-Brexit world. I refer to the requirement on the European Investment Bank to support Ireland as new super highways to Europe will have to be developed to avoid crossing the UK. I do not know if I will get a response to that but I would be interested in hearing it.

Fisheries are extremely important. I will not discuss agriculture because, like Mr. Luke "Ming" Flanagan, I think milk comes in cartons and that is all I know about it.

The issue of Northern Ireland with respect to Brexit comes up all the time and we constantly hear that 56% of those in Northern Ireland who voted in the referendum opposed leaving the Union. On the one hand, we cannot talk about democracy while, on the other, rejecting it. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. As long as that remains the case, there is no way there will be a border in the Irish Sea. This will be a major problem because unionists will not accept it. It should be borne in mind that they sit in Westminster, a forum where nationalists have no voice.

We cannot negotiate where we do not have a voice. It is as simple as that. I am sorry to bring it up because I have tremendous respect for the work that has been done by the nationalist politicians in Northern Ireland over the last 20 years or so to make the country as safe as it is and to make it so welcoming for anybody who wants to travel there from abroad. The truth is that unless people get up off their bums and start giving Northern Ireland a voice - outside, that is, of those of us in the Republic of Ireland who have been screaming to the high heavens - it will be hard to make progress. I know Mr. Carthy does not like hearing this but unless somebody goes to Westminster and starts representing the republican side of Ireland, we will end up with a hard border. I predicted that in June 2016 and people laughed at me but there is nobody laughing now. We are coming ever closer to a hard border on this island and that would be detrimental to the people of Northern Ireland. It is they who will suffer. I asked the unionists and Mr. Carthy knows the answer to this. At the end of the day, Britain will not provide the level of financial support to Northern Ireland that the European Union has been providing. We really have to exercise the full democratic imperative in order to protect those citizens of Ireland who are geographically separated from their country by virtue of the fact that they are located in a place that is currently regarded as part of the United Kingdom. One hopes that will change in time but it is how matters stand.

PESCO continually comes up along with this nonsense about a European army. I hear today that perhaps we should be putting the money into the CAP. The CAP will not be worth a continental damn if we experience a serious cyber attack that grinds this country's information technology system to a halt and leaves us in a situation where we are praying for security. It is not that long since a major cyber attack in the United Kingdom brought its entire health system down. That weekend, Ireland did not have anybody on duty in cyber security because we did not have the numbers to do it. Let us get away from the nonsense of a European army. PESCO is a menu of choices. We can pick what we want from it and avoid what we do not want. There is an article being published this weekend, I understand, that will explore the security of this country and the need for us to modernise our equipment. Ireland is a small country and, on its own, it cannot have the purchasing power that would be available under PESCO. If somebody is talking about a European army, I urge them to remember that this country is militarily non-aligned. It is not a neutral country. It is militarily non-aligned and we will not be changing our position short of a referendum of the people. I take grave exception to people trying to pretend that something different is happening.