Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What we need is a date for this forum. The Taoiseach will recall I asked him in my letter to bring together the leaders in the Oireachtas to discuss this. If we cannot get a date now for the forum, we should at least get a date for that meeting to discuss how we put it in place.

I remind the Taoiseach that the DUP opposed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and no one stood back. Neither the international community, the Governments nor the people of the island allowed that opposition to block progress, and the Good Friday Agreement referendum received the clear support of the people. It must be remembered that the DUP lost this vote also and many of its supporters will not be of the same mind as their leadership.

As the Taoiseach has said, we need to maximise and co-ordinate our response to the crisis that has been created. Last week, the Taoiseach and the Fianna Fáil leader championed the cause of Scotland. I was in south Armagh last night and many people mentioned this to me, and I welcome very much the statement from the Fianna Fáil leader now upholding the Northern vote. There is an opportunity in all these difficulties to redesign the future of the island of Ireland and of the European Union. Let us redesign the future of the island of Ireland first. As I have said, the way to do that is to put together the forum.

I ask the Taoiseach to indicate a date for that now. In the absence of that, I ask for a clear commitment that he will meet the rest of us, as a matter of urgency, to discuss the issue and put this in place as quickly as possible.

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