Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Growing up in a rural Border parish I was conscious from a young age of that division on our doorstep across local communities. Politically the Border was always an issue for us. Today the Border is hardly noticeable and practically invisible as people from both sides move freely across it as they do their daily business. For upwards of 20 years we have seen a process of normalisation as people from all communities slowly and progressively build up relationships across what was a once dangerous frontier. I saw this as a Deputy from a Border constituency, and also as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In that role I saw how much common interest farmers across the Border had, to which the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, has referred, and how the EU was a means of recognising and addressing these common concerns.

At political and official level we have worked together. Last Thursday's vote caused a political earthquake and it will take time for the consequences to become clear. The return of the Border, this time as an external boundary of the European Union, is not a development any of us want to see or one that we can envisage. It is something against which the majority, 56%, of the people of Northern Ireland voted. The "Remain" vote was higher in the Northern Border counties, with 63% voting "Remain" in Newry and Armagh and 58.6% voting "Remain" in Fermanagh and south Tyrone.

We need to recognise the harm and damage that could be done by running an EU frontier through communities that have already suffered too much from divisions over many decades. We should also recognise the EU is a particular force for good in making the Border irrelevant, not least through the almost €2 billion in EU peace funds disbursed on peace and reconciliation projects in the North and the southern Border region since 1995. This important initiative was driven by the former President of the EU Commission, Jacques Delors, who was a man of vision and a deep believer in the EU's communitaire doctrine of interdependence and the need to protect and safeguard the interests of smaller nations.

Although I deeply regret the decision of Britain to vote to leave, and I share the concerns voiced by many Members here at the tone and conduct of the leave campaign, we should not ignore the reality that the EU has not always made it easy for those of us who believe in our EU membership to defend it. We cannot have self-appointed sub-groups of countries issuing comments masquerading as the EU position, such as the remarks made over the weekend by the foreign ministers of the six founding EEC member states. Ireland's views on the implications of Brexit are as important, indeed are more important, than any of those of the original six.

As our former colleague and Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Dick Roche, stated today in a very good opinion piece on EurActiv.com:

Separating the UK and the EU-27 will be complex and messy. It will be in everybody's interests to ensure that the process goes ahead as smoothly as is possible.

Anything that smacks of hectoring, bullying, impatience or disrespect will make a bad situation worse, will play to those forces who wish to portray the Union as a project driven by remote elites and will feed the poison that has already entered into the public perception of the Union in far too many member states.

The tone that is adopted in the separation talks will be vital. Any suggestion that the UK must be 'put through the wringer' to discourage other member states from following in the same direction should be shunned. The European project will overcome the current challenges and thrive only if it re-establishes itself as a union of equals, a family of nation states who voluntarily pool some elements of their sovereignty to achieve a common purpose.

Others have also recognised the danger, not least the EU Council President, Donald Tusk. As recently as the beginning of June, Mr. Tusk was warning EU leaders, and in particular the EU Commission, in the starkest of terms that their utopian illusions are tearing Europe apart, and that any attempt to seize on Brexit to force through yet more integration would be a grave mistake. He did not stop there. He warned EU leaders, particularly the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, that, "Obsessed with the idea of instant and total integration, we failed to notice that ordinary people, the citizens of Europe do not share our Euro-enthusiasm".

The disconnect between the EU project as viewed from those at the top and the will of the people on the ground is growing. It is not the only factor that pushed the UK out of Europe, but it is a factor and it is one which we in this House will need to keep in our minds as we struggle through the next two to three years of uncertainty and upheaval. We are duty-bound to investigate every option to reduce the damage ahead. There are serious ramifications for everyone on all of this island. We cannot return to the era of obstacles and impediments to the free movement of people, goods or services. We need jobs on this island, not borders.

As the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, stated earlier, the economy in Border constituencies such as Cavan-Monaghan is very much dependent on interaction North and South. When I walked through Cavan town on Saturday evening on my way home from the Monaghan and Donegal game, having been at the match to cheer on Monaghan, apart from people speaking about the good quality of the game they were equally exercised by the desperate decision made by the electorate in Thursday's referendum. There is real fear in our region about the implications of Border controls and that we would be back to an era we all thought we had put long behind us.

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