Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are under time pressure, so I cannot thank Mr. Bruton as enthusiastically as I would like. I thank him for his work in building those stepping stones to the Good Friday Agreement, to peace on our island and as a member of our party, Fine Gael. I thank him personally for our interactions over the years. It is great to see him have this opportunity to take a 360 degree view. He has laid out a very important for us.

He is highly critical of the demands for a border poll that we have seen since the general election of 2020. I agree that calls for a border poll under those circumstances are not helpful and fly in the face of anyone who claims not to want a situation like Brexit. Can he nonetheless separate out the calls for a border poll from the need for conversations about constitutional change? How essential is it to separate out calls for a border poll from looking at the future in an open, open-minded and inclusive way that is not under a time constraint or cast with an inevitability about either time or a predestination, if that is what the people want us to do?

There have been shifting sands since Brexit. Mr. Bruton used the word "alienation" in his document. Some people on this island feel alienated by the behaviour and actions of the British Government over recent years in the context of legacy and the protocol, and they are unity-curious. Ireland is a very different country from what it was decades ago. In the document, Mr. Bruton alluded to the importance of stepping stones and to avoiding cliff-edge change. It strikes me this is not about cliff-edge change or border polls but rather about stepping stones and carving out an environment in which those stepping stones can be progressed.

He acknowledged unionism might lead a debate on the Union and on persuading the middle ground to be part of the Union, and he acknowledged there are unanswered questions from the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and omissions in that regard. I suspect that is because it is up to us to decide how the future might look, but the Good Friday Agreement does not go into finance, tax or subventions. I agree with Mr. Bruton that the Department of Finance probably was not consulted. This involves a huge body of work. Does he agree that work should be undertaken in a very respectful way in keeping with the Good Friday Agreement? I echo his vision of reconciliation and the importance of a shared identity, and it is important we have a place and a way to talk about our hopes about that. It is important that there be a life beyond isms and we have to build that life and vision. That is our best chance of securing majority consent over time in a respectful, methodical and careful way.