Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This week's meeting in advance of the European Council is a key and important engagement as the British Government Brexit plans have become far clearer in recent weeks. Front and centre of our Government's approach must be an appreciation of the fact that citizens in the North voted to remain in the European Union. That must be advocated, recognised and respected.

Yesterday during Leaders' Questions, I noted the remarks of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire. On 9 October, he said there is a "high level of collaboration on a joint programme of work" between this State - that is to say, the Irish State - and Britain. He said, "We have put in place a range of measures to further combat illegal migration working closely with the Irish government". He also stated, "Our focus is to strengthen the external border of the common travel area [CTA], building on the strong collaboration with our Irish partners." Now, the Dáil has not heard a word or a whimper from the Taoiseach on any of this. We get this information from a British Minister. This British Minister was claiming that the British Government is to move the front line of immigration controls to Irish ports and airports to prevent illegal migration into the British state. As I said yesterday, this clearly is not feasible. I also made the point that I am not enamoured of the response of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to these claims. I asked the Taoiseach yesterday whether these measures were in place. I am asking the Taoiseach the same question again. Yesterday, I called on the Taoiseach to make a statement on the matter and he refused to do so. The British Government claims that the Irish Government has agreed to move the front line of immigration controls to Irish ports but the Taoiseach has refused to confirm or deny this to the Dáil. That is totally and utterly unacceptable.

The Taoiseach also went on a little diversion and referred to his need to know what we are talking about in terms the Executive in the North. He said:

...we are not going to get any specific or particular circumstances right unless we know. If there is a division of opinion about what Northern Ireland wants, I cannot sort it out unless there is consensus and agreement on what the horizon or objective is on the part of the Executive in the North. Deputy Adams's party can help to realise that.

Let us be clear. The Taoiseach knows the Northern Ireland Executive position as well as I do. His officials are in contact with all the northern parties. He meets the leaders there regularly and I imagine he reads their public pronouncements or gets briefed on them.

The DUP and the British Government do not accept the democratic will of the people in the North. Sin é, the Taoiseach knows that. Sinn Féin does and other parties there do as well. It would be better if the Executive was united. That would be the best position. It would be better if the DUP agreed with the rest of us and, more importantly, with the electorate but it does not. We have to deal with that reality and so does the Taoiseach, instead of trying to blame Sinn Féin in some way. We should not, however, give up on the DUP. Many unionists are very concerned about the economic consequences of Brexit. That includes supporters of the DUP. We all need to reach out to them but we cannot ignore the result of the referendum. Sinn Féin is not for turning on this issue and the Taoiseach should not be for turning on it either. I said yesterday - and have said consistently - that Martin McGuinness has held the same position since the referendum, namely, that the Government’s principal objective must be to secure the position of the island of Ireland within the EU in line with the democratically expressed wishes of the people in the North and that there should be no deviation from that. Last week, the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, travelled to the European Parliament and held a series of meetings with EU leaders and senior MEPs in Brussels where he urged them to support citizens in the North to accept the referendum result and to recognise the unique circumstances here and for the entire island of Ireland. I ask the Taoiseach to relay the same message and to urge his European counterparts to do the same at this week’s Council meeting.

There does need to be a unified approach to ensuring that we all work together to get the best possible deal for the people of this island, North and South. Sinn Féin is playing its part in this regard. We are standing up for citizens as best we can and it is critical that the Government plays its part and that the Taoiseach takes the lead in this issue.

It is important that at this meeting the Taoiseach lays out the need to secure the position which I have just outlined and which he previously acknowledged and said he would advocate, that is, to secure the position of the 32 counties and all of our offshore islands within the European Union. The Good Friday Agreement, of which the Taoiseach is a coequal guarantor, must also be protected. The all-island civic dialogue will be a key part of that. I spent a few days in the North and there is a big appetite regarding this issue from disparate people. Thousands of individuals from Derry to north Louth protested against Brexit on 8 October, including members of the Taoiseach’s party. I was very pleased to see them on some of the footage. This demonstration organised by Border Communities against Brexit shows the depth of concern among those communities. However, that is not the only place that will be affected by Brexit. I look forward to seeing how the Taoiseach will be received when he puts this position to the Council and tells it that he wants it to accept that all of the island of Ireland needs to be sustained and retained within the European Union.

Before I give way to Teachta Crowe, the Fianna Fáil Leader is always condemning Sinn Féin for being soft on Russia and Russian behaviour. Let me say, without any equivocation whatsoever, that Sinn Féin has consistently condemned imperialism from all quarters, including Russian imperialism and interference by any state in the affairs of another. I include in that regard the awful military assaults taking place at this time which ought to be - and are by our party - condemned.

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