Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will have the all-island forum on 17 February. There will be 12 sectoral divisions working in the meantime. There will be sections in every Department dealing with their particular responsibilities. That has been communicated to Europe in order that it knows that Ireland will be the most adversely affected of all the countries when Brexit actually happens. From that point of view, we are not hanging around waiting to see what is going to happen. We are out there telling people of our particular needs and circumstances in order that they are fully acquainted with that.

No negotiations begin until Article 50 is triggered. There will be elections in the Netherlands, in France and in Germany. These will obviously take up quite a deal of the attention of the people in those countries. In practical terms, my view is that when the Prime Minister moves Article 50, negotiations on Britain leaving the EU will then start. Britain is leaving the Single Market. There is the question of the customs union. When Britain has gone, there is the question of how to negotiate a new kind of trade arrangement.

4 o’clock

That is the British strategy and that is what we sought when looking for clarity. That clarity has been given on a number of those fronts. Are the other 27 member states now sitting down in a huddle and saying "What are we going to do about this?" They have not sat down like that but they are all, obviously, talking about it - at least those countries that are really interested. That concerns us greatly. That is why our diplomatic engagement is to talk directly to these people so that they do understand that when negotiations commence - either in parallel or at the end of point X - they will know exactly where we stand.

I am interested in the comments from people who speak about the special status. We have a special status in that the EU recognises our is the only peace process that is supported by it. This is a situation where the two sovereign Governments co-guarantee the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. I would be the first to say that it has not all been done by any means. That is why we persist in the context of what we believe in, namely, Acht na Gaeilge, human rights and other matters. I will return to this issue tomorrow.

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