Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As we know, last week the British Government triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and began the process of formally withdrawing from the EU. The British Government's plan to date on Brexit shows it is ignoring the views of the people of lreland, North and South. Its intention to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union will have a detrimental impact on Ireland by placing a hard Border on this island. The British Government has no mandate to do this. The people of the North clearly voted in the referendum to remain in the EU but their democratic voice is being discarded as unimportant by the British Government. That a British Conservative Government would treat the citizens of the North as second class citizens is no surprise to me and other Irish republicans but it is infuriating communities across many different divides. Sinn Féin has a mandate and a duty to defend the democratic wish of this cross-community majority who have not consented to leave or be dragged out of the EU by the British Government. We will not allow the British Government use Brexit to unravel the progress of the past 20 years. This is a very serious threat, one we are not taking lightly.

Brexit will affect so many aspects of Irish life but particularly the movement of people, products, services and capital in Ireland to and from Britain. It will massively affect the indigenous export sector, particularly the agrifood sector. Brexit undermines the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process, particularly the provisions on consent. It moves the EU border onto the island of Ireland, leaving, potentially, 1 million Irish citizens and, therefore, EU citizens isolated on the other side. For this reason Sinn Féin is calling for special designated status for the North within the EU. This is supported by the majority of parties in the Oireachtas and by the majority of MLAs who were elected in the recent Assembly elections. It is a realistic and achievable solution. This will happen only if the Irish Government negotiates for our national interests and pushes for it. The Government has been asleep at the wheel thus far. It has failed to outline publically or privately to the Opposition its plans for the negotiations. We are being asked to row blindly in behind the Government while not being briefed by it on developments.

The Sinn Féin motion passed by the Dáil in February called on the Government to keep the Oireachtas updated on the Brexit process on a regular basis but that has not happened. There has been no meeting of party leaders or spokespersons. A briefing by the Department of Foreign Affairs scheduled to take place in the AV Room in February was cancelled for some reason and never rearranged. We are being asked to wear the green jersey while not knowing the tactics of the team. With the publication of the draft European Council Brexit guidelines we learned that the Spanish Government has been afforded a veto over any future exit agreement concerning Gibraltar. While reference is made to Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement and the unique circumstances on our island there is nothing close to a veto. Has the Irish Government requested such a veto? If it has, on what basis is Ireland being treated differently to Spain? If not, why not?

Today the European Parliament adopted a resolution regarding the Brexit negotiations. The resolution is far from perfect but it is far superior to the draft guidelines issued by the European Council last week. The resolution states that the Good Friday Agreement should be protected in all its parts, that there should be no hardening of the Border in Ireland and that the unique situation of the North should be recognised. It is because of this unique situation and in the context of the Good Friday Agreement that we are calling for the North to be granted special status. In my opinion, there is an onus on the Taoiseach and the European Council to take heed of this and to stand up for the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, and to act in the best interests of Irish citizens. We are also calling on the Irish Government to ensure workers who lose their jobs because of Brexit will be compensated and to invest heavily in our infrastructure to ensure we can continue to export and import goods. We also call for a relaxation of the fiscal rules which hamper significant Government expenditure and tax measures.

We need to be doing things differently. The Government has failed its first big Brexit test. It now needs to step up to the plate and to put up a fight and defend our national interests at the European Council and to do so immediately. We all need to be on board when it comes to that fight and we need to be updated regularly on the negotiations. There is no reason leaders of the Opposition parties or spokespersons should not be updated on the discussions. Day in and day out we are meeting people who are arguing in relation to Ireland's situation but we do not know the Government strategy.

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