Senator Michael McDowell:

Monsieur Barnier est vraiment bienvenu en Irlande aujourd'hui. He has pointed out that the issues Ireland faces call for imaginative and flexible solutions. Many things have been said here today with which I agree, and others with which I disagree, but it is up to the Irish now, North and South, to participate in the process of devising imaginative and flexible solutions and coming up with models for consideration by Mr. Barnier. Some people here have impugned the good faith of the European Union institutions and perhaps Mr. Barnier himself. I have trust and confidence that he does appreciate our needs and that he will be open to imaginative and flexible solutions which address the real problems in Ireland if we come forward with them to him.

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