Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach interpreted it as bulletproof at the time. However, it is riddled with holes at this stage. We hope it will come eventually to be something which is solid, but until such time as it is agreed what was agreed, then there is nothing solid about it. I refer to when the European Union published its draft legal text which clarified its interpretation of the December agreement. Prime Minister May said explicitly in the House of Commons that no British Prime Minister could ever agree to the legal text published by the European Union. She said it was unacceptable as it meant a Border in the Irish Sea. That is her view on the European Union legal text. It was supposed to be agreed before they moved out of phase one into the phase two trade negotiations. What we have now instead are totally divergent views on what was agreed in December between the European Union side and the British side. We have a decision to move into phase two with the backstop to be agreed as part of the final agreement. Where does that leave the backstop when people cannot agree on what it is?