Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When the Tory boys got their way and got their Brexit agenda over the line, they did no favours to anybody but themselves. I spent five years in the European Parliament. I was always astonished at the fact that British Tories could obsess so passionately over obnoxious foreign notions like a 40-hour working week. It is no secret that my party and I have been long-term critics of much of the architecture and the direction of the European project. We believe it has lost its way, which accounts for some of the backlash that was manifest in the Brexit debate.

I suggest the little Englander mentality which sadly prevailed was far stronger than that. As an outside observer, I believe it serves no great purpose for the great English people. It is an agenda which is not worthy of them. That is my view as an outsider. If the desire of the English people, as voted for and democratically mandated, is for England to leave the EU, that is their business and off they go.

The primary concern of the Oireachtas must be the consequences of Brexit for this island as a whole, and in particular for the North. It has been said, but it bears repeating that the people of the North of Ireland voted to stay in the EU. They did not join in the Brexiteer jolly as it unfolded across the water. I am conscious that there has been endless discussion and lamenting of Brexit and no doubt that will continue. I cannot help feeling the Government is essentially sleepwalking into a potentially damaging and dangerous situation. I want to put it straight on the table that if Brexit and the hard departure of Britain from the EU are left unchecked and unchallenged, it is an absolute racing certainty that the Good Friday Agreement will be undermined and sabotaged. The logic of the Agreement, the political architecture of the Agreement and the human rights provisions that underpin the ethos and the outworkings of the Agreement were all premised on joint membership of the EU.

A hard Brexit, as envisaged by Mrs. May and her colleagues, means the essence of the Agreement, which has been so painstakingly constructed by so many people over such a long period of time, is in immediate peril. I have to say one certainly would not get that impression from reading the draft guidelines from the Council. One of the Taoiseach's Government colleagues - I think it might have been the Minister, Deputy Flanagan - described them as a "triumph" for Ireland. The triumph concerned is anaemic in its wording, non-committal and mealy-mouthed. It is certainly not as strong as the protections or assertions achieved by the Spanish Government in respect of the Rock of Gibraltar. Heaven help us if the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, regard this as a triumph. If this is a moment of triumph, we are in even bigger trouble than I suspected.

As we have heard, a majority of Members of the Oireachtas voted to support a special designated status for the North of Ireland within the EU. That is the agenda the Government must pursue. For reasons I find bizarre and outlandish, it seems unwilling to pursue that logic. Unless we achieve what this House has voted for, we will cause economic difficulties for our agrifood business and for communities that live on the Border. It will be more difficult for everyone, including those who do not live in Border areas, to access health services and academic institutions in the North. In these circumstances, the biggest damage and the real collateral damage will be to the peace process and to the architecture, the letter and the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement. We are not prepared to let that happen. I do not believe any Irish Government worthy of the name should be prepared to let it happen. That means that Article 11 needs to be amended. We have until 29 April. The Taoiseach should relish the opportunity to go back to secure what would be a real achievement and potentially a triumph for this country.

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