Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I actually support the rationale outlined by the Taoiseach to the effect that the people in the North voted for the Good Friday Agreement and, therefore, that should have primacy. Let us follow the Taoiseach's rationale. The people also voted to stay within the European Union. There are numerous precedents for the special designated status that we are advocating, including, for example, the case of Denmark and Greenland.

The Taoiseach lauded the Good Friday Agreement. The British Government is in default and this Government is in default in respect of many grounds and elements of the Good Friday Agreement. What I am trying to focus in on is that the Government is accepting that the land frontier between the European Union and the British state will be on the island of Ireland. That is implicit in what the Taoiseach says. He should not accept that.

If the Government accepted our proposition, for which there is precedent, it would not affect the constitutional issue and the Government would ensure that the land frontier would not be not on the island of Ireland. There are technical, strategic and national interests to support the logic and common sense behind that. The Taoiseach refrained from embracing the proposition but I want to give him another opportunity to do so. Why does the Taoiseach not make it clear that his Government will accept the case for a special designated status within the European Union? He should make it a central plank of the Government's negotiating strategy and policy. Moreover, he should tell the British Prime Minister as much next week.

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