Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

There has been significant international engagement with this issue for some time, particularly at the UN, which is leading the efforts to co-ordinate works on the ground. The US has been very involved as well through President Obama's special envoy whom we met some time back. He gave us a good appraisal of the situation, albeit that was more than 12 months ago. The EU is concerned about ensuring the referenda go ahead peacefully and conflict is avoided. People are satisfied that this can happen but they are vigilant, given the history and potential for difficulties. The Union will appoint an election observation team and so on and, together with the UN, it will keep the security situation under constant review .

See this speech in context