Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach said, one of the massive issues has to be the plight of the 50,000 undocumented Irish. As he recounted, President Obama did try to make progress on that issue, but he was blocked in Congress. That blocking may and, arguably, is likely to continue. In fairness to him, the Taoiseach has raised the issue many times, as I have. I appeal to him to persist in the time ahead.

The big challenge, particularly following Brexit, is to sustain White House support for the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. Sinn Féin has never taken that support for granted. Irish America is the bridge between this island and the policy makers in the White House and Congress. That is why we engage so fully with our friends there. They have kept faith in the quest for peace on this island and with the very legitimate and necessary objective of Irish unity. We must all do what we can to encourage and support this work.

Alongside the plight of the undocumented Irish and whatever economic challenges new White House policies might present, there is a need to sustain and increase the very considerable contribution from the USA to the peace process. I ask the Taoiseach to assure the Dáil that this will be a primary objective of his Government and that he will go about and press ahead with achieving it consistently and strategically.

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