Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As a Teachta Dála for the Border constituency of counties Monaghan and Cavan, I am acutely conscious of the great uncertainty and deep concern that arises from the so-called Brexit vote. We are literally on the front line of partition. Since 1922, social, economic, cultural and political life has been hugely disrupted by the unnatural division of our country by the British Government. For decades, our communities knew the reality of customs posts and Border controls. This was followed during the conflict by the closure of Border roads in some cases, with the British Army blowing up roads and bridges and erecting barriers, spy posts and all manner of obstructions. This happened not just over the years of armed conflict but over the lifetime of the Orange state in the Six Counties, propped up as it was by the might of the British state. Over all those decades, local communities on the Border resisted. They reopened closed Border roads and bridges, often against the violent response of the British Crown forces, and endeavoured to maintain normal community life.

The peace process opened a new era for our communities in the Border counties. Our efforts over many years were vindicated. Huge progress was made. The physical Border in most of its aspects was removed but much remains to be done. The challenge of greater co-operation and integration of services remains. Progress under the Good Friday Agreement has been too slow but there has been a sense that progress has been made.

The Brexit vote introduces a new and formidable element of uncertainty. What will it mean for our communities? The answer at this point is that we do not know.

We have listened to contradictory predictions from both sides in the referendum debate. The bottom line is that it was an English question. It was about divisions within the Tory party being played out in a referendum on EU membership. It is well recorded, and I have made it clear in the House, that Sinn Féin has been consistently and correctly critical of the EU integration project. We have rightly challenged the undermining of democracy, sovereignty, independence and neutrality by the drive to an EU super state. The basis of our policy of critical engagement with the EU is that the nation state, for all its faults, constitutes the basic and workable unit of democracy. This is how we view the EU, and we do so on an all-Ireland basis.

We are now faced with a situation in which our neighbours across the artificial, British-imposed frontier are deemed to be outside the EU while we on this side of the Border are inside. The Six Counties are deemed to be within the so-called United Kingdom. They voted to remain in the EU but are to be taken out of the EU against their expressed will and without reference to the people of the rest of this island. It is an intolerable situation for our Border communities in particular and for the people of Ireland as a whole. It is for the people of Ireland as a whole to determine our relationship with the EU. For Sinn Féin, it is fundamental. Therefore, we in the Border counties will be to the fore in advocating a referendum, under the Good Friday Agreement on the question of Irish unity. All pro-united Ireland parties and voices should seize the moment. Ní neart go chur le chéile.

In tandem with this reasonable and wholly defensible argument is a need to fully recognise the new reality and put it to Ireland's best benefit. Despite the prospect of significant adverse effects, we should, in the immediate aftermath, promote the State's arguably enhanced prospects of attracting overseas investment, not just from the US. In undertaking this course, let the IDA and Government note that the Border counties are more than a fit location for any new or expanding enterprise in this jurisdictions. Long ignored by the State's agencies, the abandonment of the Border counties must end.

One subtext of conversations during recent days was the realisation of the shocking prospect that we could have, on the one hand, Boris Johnson in 10 Downing Street and, God forbid, Donald Trump in the White House. God help us all. Where would we be then?

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