Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Most of the ground has been covered but it is always a pleasure to welcome a voisinto the Houses of the Oireachtas and acknowledge his generosity of time, as the ambassador has made himself so readily accessible to Members of the Oireachtas. He has communicated clearly, including when over a year ago he wrote an excellent piece in The Irish Timessetting out the new opportunities.

No opportunity should be lost to say the Good Friday Agreement, as we all know, has saved a countless number of lives. It is a precious peace. I know I am preaching to the converted but I cannot emphasise enough how much umbrage many people in Ireland have taken that this amazing, historic and solemn peace agreement has been bandied around and it is somehow purportedly being used as an excuse or a justification to proceed to breach international law. It is reprehensible. There are certain non-party political agreements that are so solemn and precious, we do not mess around or play politics with them.

We are now at our most vulnerable stage since the Good Friday Agreement. France is an old friend of Ireland and we go back way beyond what is now called the European Union. Ireland has taken its place in Europe for over 1,500 years, having much of an input into culture, heritage and security. We have a special relationship with America but, relatively speaking, it is only a couple of hundred years old. The French and Irish go back longer than that. If I am put to the pin of my collar, I cannot think of a country that Ireland has closer links to over centuries. France came to our aid and it is a bulwark of democracy. It is a pivotal part of the EU and we need the French voice and continued support like never before at this defining and precious point. I ask the ambassador to use the influence of his office.

The other question that has not been answered is whether this section of unionism wants the internal UK market. Have unionist leaders explained to their people that if they exclusively want the internal market and to ditch the protocol - as some do, although moderates want to amend it - that they will lose out on the EU market, the Single Market? I do not know if that has been communicated to their supporters. Doing so might help them see sense and see that this is a wonderful opportunity. I cannot say this often enough and have I said it in the Seanad. The Alliance Party in Northern Ireland is constitutionally agnostic. A lady who won a seat for that party, Sorcha Eastwood, was asked after she won the seat if the protocol came up on the doorsteps when she was canvassing. She said it came up twice. There is another narrative that is not getting out there. The Green Party is an all-Ireland party. We canvassed in the North and it never came up. There is something missing here. We are not putting people before politics.

France is very influential in the European project. Ukraine will be demoralised and devastated if it is told it has to wait ten, 20 or 30 years. That is not what it wants to hear now. France has articulated a two-speed approach. I hope there is some good news in the post for Ukraine because it is clinging to hope. It wants to take its place among the nations of Europe like France and Ireland. France has huge influence in making that happen. It has been reported in the media that Germany and France are a bit nervous about it, for obvious reasons. There are very strict criteria. That said, surely in a time of emergency some preliminary and concrete steps can be taken on that road to European membership. I would ask France to please give Ukraine something concrete in the next few days through the mechanisms and workings of the European Union, of which it is a central part.