Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not going to comment on leaks in newspapers or on what has been written about this. The situation in so far as the 27 members of the European Council is concerned is that there is a very clear position of not in any way wishing to punish the United Kingdom for a democratic decision that was made by its people and on which the British Government wishes to follow through. There is a realisation that is has now got to be dealt with in a respectful, understanding, constructive and positive way. I have always made that case, both to the Prime Minister and to the European Council.

Clearly the step by step approach that has been set out is critical from a European Union point of view. The Prime Minister has called an election in Great Britain. It is expected - although one can never pre-judge the outcome of an election - that she will receive an increased mandate. That allows her to do a few things, if she wishes, including making new appointments to Cabinet. It will also, from her point of view, give her a clearer hand in negotiating on Brexit. However, that does not change the issues that need to be dealt with in the negotiations. The first part is what is required under Article 50, namely to deal with the exit process and there are three particular items in that context. The first is the liability that arises from membership of the European Union, for past membership and requirements into the future by the United Kingdom. There was no discussion in Brussels on Saturday about the scale of that liability; nor were any figures mentioned. The discussion was about principles and methodologies to arrive at that.

The second issue is the rights of EU citizens who live in Great Britain and the rights of British citizens who live in other EU member states, including here in Ireland. Obviously, in our case it is understood and accepted that we have had a common travel area since 1922, with acquired rights not just to travel but to residency, work and opportunities in respect of social welfare. That is a matter of bilateral discussion between our two countries. Since other countries joined the EU, many of their citizens now live in Britain. What are their rights and what issues need to be dealt with in that context? Reciprocal to that is the question of the rights of citizens of Great Britain living in France, Spain or elsewhere in the EU.

The third issue, which interests us directly, is the question of borders. What do we do if we agree that there should not be a return to the hard Border which brought about sectarianism, violence, terrorism and all of that? These are three matters that the EU wishes to have dealt with very early on in the negotiations. We do not want a situation where, for instance, others might claim that Ireland has become a sort of bargaining chip because of an agreement in respect of the special circumstances that apply here because of the Border.

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