Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be frank, I find it incredible that there was no discussion with the First Minister in advance of the North-South Ministerial Council meeting about the idea of a forum. It seems incredible that it would have been floated without due consultation and engagement and the sounding out of all the political leaders in Northern Ireland, particularly the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, and the Executive. That would have brought clarity, which was in short supply yesterday in terms of the idea that had been floated and spoken about by the Minister for Health. For example, the Minister said that the forum would see groups North and South work on issues of mutual interest in light of the Brexit vote. Listening to the Minister on Sunday, one would have thought it was a done deal, a fait accompli, and was going to happen. Lo and behold, we learned that nobody was consulted about it.

It is a great pity because there was merit in the idea. There is merit in the idea of a focused and specialised all-island response to Brexit because Brexit constitutes perhaps the most severe threat to the all-island economy we have witnessed for a long time - certainly since the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement established the idea of consent and the will of the people of Northern Ireland and, very clearly, the will of the people of Northern Ireland will be subverted by the English nationalistic approach in terms of its future within the EU. To be frank, Brexiteers have very little time for Northern Ireland and, unfortunately, Northern Ireland will not be central to their engagement with Europe in terms of what will unfold, so we need an all-island response. However, it needs a bit of work in advance before people start floating ideas just for the sake of spin over substance. We have had too much of that over the past number of years and we had too much of it again over the weekend. The issues are far too serious for somebody to just get a notion, send it up into the atmosphere and hope everybody will agree with it the following day. It cannot work like that. We need more thoroughness and professionalism in terms of approaching what is a very serious issue. I put it to the Taoiseach that we need additional capacity in our Departments in respect of Northern Ireland, including its position vis-à-visBrexit. Likewise, we should be pressing the Northern Ireland Executive to recruit additional personnel and put a special team together to work on an all-island basis in respect of the implications of Brexit and the negotiations that will undoubtedly follow in the coming months.

See this speech in context