Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat agus fáilte. The idea of today's meeting was to tease out ideas among ourselves and I do not know if this format is the best route. I listened to both submissions. The witnesses said the position is that there are huge challenges and we are into a difficult period, and that no negotiations are going to happen until Article 50 is triggered. I would like to focus on what we are to do before then. We know it is coming down the track and there is no doubt it is going to happen, so what do we do?

H. E. Mr. Schellekens said:

Further consequences loom for this beautiful island if Brexit sees a return to the borders of the past. Of course, the Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland is a sensitive issue. We fully understand this and we believe this should be taken into account when negotiations begin.

We all agree with that. If we can agree that the Border is a particular difficultly for us, what can we do during this study period, if we want to call it that, or this false dawn before whatever happens down the track? For example, would it be helpful if the different EU states came to look at the Border, the Irish peace process and the positive involvement of the EU in regard to that process? We need to be build up a greater awareness among EU members in regard to the potential crisis that will impact on Ireland and its people.

People talked about borders but it is not just the physical borders but also the psychological borders. One of the successes of the Good Friday Agreement is that, in many ways, we have eliminated those. There is now co-operation and we work on an all-island basis to sell Ireland, and there is co-operation when Ministers from the North and from this jurisdiction travel to Europe, for example. Do the witnesses see that as a possibility after the British exit? We talked in terms of flexibility and, as an example of that, Denmark is a member but Greenland is outside the Union and still receives EU funding. The EU became an active persuader for reunification in Germany. In the event of Cypriot reunification, Northern Cyprus will be fully integrated within the EU and its seats in the European Parliament are currently allocated on the basis of the populations in both areas. Therefore, there is flexibility.

Do the witnesses believe a similar flexibility or arrangement could apply for Ireland? In particular, under the Good Friday Agreement, there is the inherent right of those born on the island of Ireland to be Irish citizens and, by virtue of that, to have citizenship of the EU. Do the witnesses believe it would be helpful if there was an all-Ireland approach to these negotiations involving those in the Northern Assembly and the Government here? Do the witnesses believe those in the British jurisdiction who want to remain within the EU - those in the North and in Scotland - are in a unique position in regard to these negotiations? Would it be helpful if there was a common position coming from them?

I am looking at and listening to people coming from the Welsh Parliament. There was a majority in Wales and they feel very strongly about what is facing them. I am seeking ideas about what we can do in this interim period. Is the Taoiseach’s civic forum helpful? Are the witnesses following it? Would it be helpful to forward those civic society discussions to EU members? I would be interested in teasing out such ideas today and seeing what we are missing out. We are trying to bring people in and have the discussion. The difficulty is that although everyone is waiting for the trigger to happen, we could do much in the interim. Do the witnesses agree?