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

I noted with interest the report in Friday's The Irish Timesthat the Taoiseach told a Fine Gael fundraising event that the outcome of the Brexit referendum could result in a united Ireland. The Taoiseach will not be surprised to hear that I welcome these comments if true. The First Minister of Scotland, Ms Nicola Sturgeon, spoke in the Seanad earlier today. She has been very clear on her position in respect of Scotland's interests. She has said that the option of another independence referendum remains on the cards should the British Government proceed with its plan to drag Scotland out of the Single Market. I do not purport to speak for the First Minister. These are matters for the people of Scotland to decide. However, I think citizens of Ireland would like the Taoiseach to adopt a similar stance in respect of Ireland, that is, that Irish unity should be on the table. As welcome as the Taoiseach's comments were, thinking out loud at a Fine Gael fundraiser is not enough. It is time to turn aspirations and notions into reality. The issue is Ireland and our interests. The Taoiseach cannot logically say to those in business and agriculture and people who rely on cross-Border services that Brexit will not have an effect on them because it clearly will. He cannot claim that the consequences of Brexit simply boil down to a hard Border versus a soft Border because the truth is that the Border - any Border - is the problem.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin launched our Towards a United Ireland discussion paper. We have sent the Taoiseach a copy of it. I have no doubt that he will find time in the coming days to read it. It is a document from us, but for everyone. We do not pretend that any one party has a monopoly on Irish unity. We want all parties that aspire to a united Ireland to become persuaders for unity. That means the Irish Government more so than all others. The Government will have a seat at the table during the Article 50 negotiations. Therefore, in our view, it has a responsibility and an obligation to use those talks to advance the pursuit of Irish unity. When the British Government pursued Brexit, it did not give one thought to Ireland, to the consequences for Ireland or to the Good Friday Agreement. Brexit is a British problem that requires an Irish solution. The Taoiseach says that unity is one possible outcome of Brexit to his Fine Gael colleagues. Does this therefore form part of Ireland's negotiating strategy? Has the Taoiseach shared the same thought with our EU partners, namely, people such as François Hollande and Angela Merkel?

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