Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputy Durkan, the House and the country that Ireland remains absolutely committed to remaining a member of the European Union and will sit among the 27 member states when the negotiations commence. We are well aware of our traditional contacts and connections with the United Kingdom in trade, social issues, the economy and all that over very many years. I have made certain agreements with the British Prime Minister in respect of the common travel area, no return to the borders of the past, the development of our economies and improvement in jobs and so on. Deputy Durkan can take it that Ireland remains 100% committed to remaining a central member of the European Union. It has a high regard for Ireland's contribution over the past 40 years or so. In that sense, I also assure Deputy Durkan that the interests of the people in the Republic and those in Northern Ireland are central to our focus as we have a co-guarantorship responsibility in respect of the Good Friday Agreement. As I stated to Deputy Adams earlier, the issues upon which people voted in Good Friday Agreement so many years ago were on the understanding that people would be and would continue to be citizens of the European Union, with those rights conferred upon them in that internationally legally binding agreement. These matters are really central to our negotiations.

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