Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----to be crammed into a one minute speech. Deputy McGrath mentioned the elections that took place in Northern Ireland and the result is very clear.

If I recall correctly, I think the Sinn Féin president said the priority was the establishment of the Executive over the appointment of the First Minister. An Executive arose from the Good Friday Agreement which has functioned in difficult circumstances and which, I would suggest, were more difficult than current circumstances but Deputy McDonald seems to be saying there will not be an Executive until the intergovernmental agreement is implemented. The fact of the matter is that everyday life goes on in Northern Ireland and there is a requirement for a Finance Minister, a Housing Minister, an Education Minister, an Agriculture Minister and all the Ministers who turn up at the North-South Ministerial Council. They have day-to-day work to do, so I again say to the Deputy it is a case of accepting responsibility and putting together an Executive. How are we to determine what the agreed wishes, objectives and proposals of the Executive and of the elected members representing the people of Northern Ireland are if we do not have some sense of agreement? While there were difficulties previously between the late Martin McGuinness when he was deputy First Minister and his three First Ministers, he was in a position to put forward a series of papers setting out what an agreed position for Northern Ireland was. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is talking to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, today. I accept that the death of Martin McGuinness is an unforeseen circumstance and the question of whether an extension can be given is a matter the Minister and Secretary of State Brokenshire will discuss. Obviously, nobody wants to see this breakdown leading to further elections or direct rule.

I do not accept that this country will become a pawn in the negotiations between the UK and the EU. We have already set out matters very clearly for the lead negotiator in the Barnier task force. He wants the situation in Northern Ireland dealt with as one of his three priorities. This is very important. Within that, we have agreed that there will be no return to the hard border of the past because that brought with it sectarian violence. We have made this perfectly clear to the British Prime Minister and the British Government accepts that. We agreed at our meeting in Brussels that it should not be beyond the ingenuity and creativity of all those who have laboured long and hard to bring about a position where there is no hard border and where the situation is seamless. I have referred here previously to the issues that will now present themselves. What do we do in terms of water, energy and animal and veterinary health, which are all cross-Border issues where an all-island solution can be had? We have a unique set of circumstances here which constitute a special status. We are the only place in Europe that has a peace process, the only place in Europe where PEACE funds apply and the only place that has an international legally binding agreement lodged in the UN and backed by Europe and the US so we have a unique status. Let us build on that.

I have made it perfectly clear on quite a number of occasions that what I want to see in the negotiated outcome from a European perspective is that in respect of the wording of the Good Friday Agreement to allow and cater for the possibility of the people of Northern Ireland joining the Republic in a united Ireland at some future time by consent, the same process would apply as applied in East Germany and West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down and where there was a seamless transfer and they did not have to reapply for membership over a very long period of time. The European Council will make the final decisions based on the recommendations that will come through from the negotiating team. We sit on the European side here but want to retain our very close trading relationships with our colleagues in the UK and Northern Ireland. All the economic indicators and reports point out that the Republic and Northern Ireland would be most adversely affected by this. We are under no illusions about the scale of this challenge. It is coming at us now and we must deal with it. This is why I have offered on many occasions to have full up-to-date briefings for the leaders of the parties opposite so that they are fully acquainted with all the facts here. The triggering of Article 50 may contain some other relevant information about the principle of the closest possible relationship between the UK and the EU from hereon and what is behind it. This will consume all our time for the time ahead.

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