Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last weekend the British Prime Minister, Ms Theresa May, confirmed that she would trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty before the end of March 2017, thus triggering Brexit. By insisting that Britain pursues a hard Brexit and leaves the Single Market, she has set the British Government on a collision course with the EU in which Ireland, North and South, is regarded as collateral damage. It is very clear that the Tories do not regard Ireland as important in their shenanigans, or Scotland for that matter. This means that the common travel area, the nature of the Border, movement of people, the nature of cross-Border and bilateral trade, not to mention the Good Friday Agreement, are now up in the air.

The Taoiseach has been very flat-footed on all of these issues. The referendum result has been known for months but we have yet to see any meaningful propositions coming from the Taoiseach or his Ministers in the intervening period on the key issues and significant consequences for the island, North and South.

I understand the Taoiseach finally brought a memorandum to the Cabinet today. Perhaps he might enlighten us regarding his plans.

I am glad the Taoiseach acknowledged last week that citizens in the North of this island voted to remain within the EU. We need him to advocate for their will to remain. That includes looking at mechanisms that would allow the North to remain within the EU. This task could be undertaken as part of the all-Ireland dialogue he has proposed, particularly in the absence of any formal negotiations until next year. That means much more than a one-day event on 2 November next. There is a chance here to set the agenda, domestically and internationally, before any negotiations between Britain and the EU take place. The sooner representatives of all the key interest groups get around a table to inform and devise a negotiation strategy, the better. Does the Taoiseach agree with yesterday's statement on the issue of Brexit by the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, that none of this is a done deal? It is vital that the Taoiseach leads from the front. Will he inform us of the contents of the memorandum he brought to the Cabinet? The details of that memorandum should have been given to the Dáil rather than being selectively leaked to a newspaper, as seems to have happened.

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