Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Vice-President for attending the committee and I appreciate his generosity of time this morning.

I believe it is important that we extol for Northern Ireland the virtues, the benefits and the potential of the new-found arrangement in which finds itself. It is a living arrangement.

Northern Ireland, in a sense, should be at the consultative table, at the very top, to express concerns and flag issues for Northern Ireland. That is not possible at the moment. Notwithstanding the constitutional sensitivities, would the EU explore with the UK, respecting the Constitution, giving Northern Ireland a voice in the heart of Europe? Obviously, that would have to be done amicably. The Vice-President might then report back to this member state because, if it is not a runner, that will certainly shape the minds of people in the Republic of Ireland.

I anticipate we would be very generous. We would have to look at constitutional change to allow a voice for Northern Ireland at formal committee meetings here and in the two Houses. That is something the EU will deal with and will have to face down the line. I want to have that exhausted first. What generosity is there between ourselves and the UK, recognising the international Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland's new position, to put Northern Ireland front and centre? Northern Ireland's voice is not being heard properly at the moment.

I do not want to repeat what fellow Senators and Deputies have said this morning but I fully concur with it. I want to approach it from a different angle, almost from an interest in history, if very modern history. A spectacular own goal was scored by the EU but it could have been so much worse, to try to be optimistic about this. I have never seen on the island of Ireland such spontaneous unison, although people might be coming from different constituencies. We did not have that unanimous acclamation at the time of the Good Friday Agreement, when the DUP opposed it. Every single voice abhorred what happened but mistakes happen, even of this magnitude. The ground has been well covered. We have to look positively at the fact people drew back from the brink. TheTitanicdid not hit the iceberg. It is never too late.

On a question that has not been covered yet, could the Vice-President put on record who I should thank, as a parliamentarian, for averting going into the abyss? I would like to shake that person's hand, although it might not be possible in Covid times. Is it the Taoiseach or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, or both, or the Irish Government? If the Taoiseach did this, and he was vigilant and was not asleep at the wheel while we were riding into the abyss, it is the greatest single day of a living Taoiseach in protecting peace in this country since Bertie Ahern’s clinching of the Good Friday Agreement. I would like to know who I should thank. I do not believe it is the EU bureaucrats. If it is one of my fellow parliamentarians, I want to be generous and magnanimous, and say to the Irish Government, “Thank you so much for avoiding a huge mess.”