Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have held back on making my maiden speech to talk on this important topic of Brexit. I believe it is essential that Britain makes the correct decision, and its staying in the EU is as important to us as the Good Friday Agreement was, and still is, to these islands. I would be doing a great disservice to the people of Louth and the Border communities if I did not expand on the repercussions of Britain's taking a backward step in the economic expansion of these islands. I equally feel that there is a huge onus on us to point out to those who have a say in this referendum the real effects on Border areas if the decision is to exit.

In the years prior to the North's peace process, many people along the Border stood with their backs to each other for far too long. Since the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, great strides have been made to make sure that we as a nation begin to face each other, face our collective challenges, and participate with a unity of purpose and a spirit of co-operation.

This can be best cited in the memorandum of understanding between Down and Louth local authorities where issues such as emergency planning, tourism and recreation, renewable energy and green technology, sustainable economic growth and job creation are being tackled as if no physical boundary exists between North and South. Indeed, this memorandum of understanding is something that should be used across Europe and has been hailed as a model of good practice and an exemplar of cross-territorial co-operation in Europe.

I want to ask those who will ultimately have a say in Brexit to consider seriously the importance of unity of purpose in remaining part of the EU where both sides on this island can grow and develop as part of the family of the European Union. I am old enough to be able to remind the Mayor of London, Mr. Boris Johnson, and the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, of the need to reflect on my memories of the Border prior to EU membership. It beggars belief to suggest that we would not have a reintroduction of concession roads, unapproved crossings and Border customs huts, not to mention the triptyque that had to be placed on car windscreens if people wanted to do business with my near neighbours in Newry or Crossmaglen. All of this would be a retrograde step, and would reintroduce barriers to progress. An exit would once again create a smugglers' paradise the length and breadth of the Border.

The decision by the electorate is a mere 70 days away, yet it is worth noting that the Irish Examinerin February highlighted that our caretaker Taoiseach admitted that the Government had no plan in place should the UK vote to leave the European Union. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is taking an equally blinkered approach, insisting that he has no plan B for a Brexit because he does not believe it will happen. He said he is unwilling to "envisage seriously" a vote to leave the Union. A Brexit may or may not happen but it is something for which we need to plan ahead, even at this late stage.

Many people's everyday lives on the Border would be affected. An article in the Financial Timesthis month stated that the businessman, Mr. Paul Vallely, is worried about being stranded if Britain leaves the EU. As the joint owner of a rug distribution business in Newry, he ships to customers in Europe and faces logistical hurdles if the UK votes to leave the Union. However, his real concern is the Border, just a few miles to the south, between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Mr. Vallely said he could barely imagine a newly reinforced Irish Border with customs posts, queues and traffic delays on the motorway to Dublin. He finds it hard to envisage the M1 with a Border checkpoint. This is a road on which he, I and many others often travel. My fear is that Newry, and indeed Dundalk, will once again become towns close to a semi-closed Border with a half-hinterland.

Let us imagine the effect of a checkpoint on all those who live in Newry and Dundalk, for many of whom cross-Border trips are a way of life. According to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, there are now more than 60,000 people who move across the Border to work every day. What would happen every day if that trip involved producing a passport or paying duty on the fuel when moving from one jurisdiction to the other? Northern Ireland Border controls being reintroduced if Britain left the EU was confirmed by a British Cabinet Office report in The Irish Timeson 1 March. It is impossible to see how the current Border could function without some kind of checks if Britain were outside the EU.

There is no doubt that if this referendum is successful, it will irrevocably change the relationship between Dundalk and Newry, Louth and Down, and Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. I agree with what the British ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Mr. Dominick Chilcott, said when he addressed a conference organised by the European Movement Ireland in March. He stated:

Britain exiting the European Union would reduce the contact between Irish and British politicians ... it would create a risk of old suspicions re-entering the relationship between the two countries ...

Before 1973, the British and Irish Governments barely spoke to each other, barely saw one another. The first visit to Ireland by a serving British Prime Minister only happened in autumn 1973 after we both joined the EEC.

H.E. Mr. Chilcott also cautioned that he could see a hardening of the Border if the UK voted to leave the EU.

Unquestionably, the EU has played an active role in facilitating the peace process and when the merits of Brexit are debated, the role of the EU in this regard should not be forgotten. Much of the social, cultural and economic functioning between North and South and between Ireland and Britain is simplified by both being EU members. It has allowed us to forge common bonds at EU level and to foster good working relationships. Undoubtedly, the positive relationships and common bonds developed at EU level were and continue to be central to the workings of the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. A British exit from the EU would be an immense blow to our capacity to work together to secure peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

In a recent interview, Ireland's ambassador in London, H.E. Mr. Dan Mulhall, said, "When you have two countries that are linked in the way our countries are, with a land border between us and extraordinary economic, political, historical people-to-people links, anything that puts a barrier between them has to be a negative thing from our point of view." Ms Noelle O'Connor of the European Movement Ireland has urged Irish people with relatives and friends in the UK to alert them to the issues. In an article in The Irish Timesin February of this year, Humza Yousaf, Scotland's Minister for Europe, stated that Irish voters could play a decisive role in the Brexit referendum.

According to the 2011 census there are 601,917 people born on the island of Ireland resident in Britain. In addition, the British Embassy has estimated that approximately 120,000 British citizens living in Ireland will be eligible to vote. More needs to be done to encourage these people to consider voting for the UK to remain in this referendum. What would happen if the people of Northern Ireland vote to remain in the European Union but the overall result is a Brexit? It does not bear contemplating. More vigorous voices from this House are needed to ensure we get the right outcome.

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