Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I remember well the campaign in the 1970s for this State to go into the EEC. I campaigned against it. I think that was the right position. We have changed our position over the years to one of critical engagement. The Minister's Government has been compliant. It is a Government which pays private bankers' debt, created by the crowd now on the Opposition benches, of €65 billion to the EU, and which oversaw the destruction of our fishing industry and so on. We remain critically engaged with the European Union.

The Government's position is for a special designated status for the North, but it should be within the European Union. That is the rub. The Minister avoided my question. Why can we not have the position which is the only solution to this problem? It is meaningless to talk about friction-free borders and no return to the Border of the past. When the land frontier between the European state and the British State is on this island, it will be a hard economic border and that will be the Government's fault because it did not engage properly on the only solution applicable, which is special designated status for the North within the European Union.

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