Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Over the course of the past 11 months, since the referendum in the United Kingdom I, with my Government colleagues, I have been involved in an extensive programme of engagements with our EU partners on Brexit. There have been over 400 such engagements with the 27 EU member states and institutions which included, most recently, the visit of the European Union’s chief negotiator, Mr. Michel Barnier, to Ireland. The programme of engagements has been led by the Taoiseach, as well as my colleagues across government, complemented by official level meetings. For my part, I have had nearly 100 engagements with my EU counterparts and the EU institutions. A central goal of the engagement has been to ensure Ireland’s unique circumstances in the context of Brexit are understood by our EU partners and to seek explicit recognition of these issues and priorities in the European Union’s position for the withdrawal negotiations. Throughout my engagement with partners I have emphasised the political imperative of achieving flexible and imaginative solutions in the context of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, in particular, with a view to avoiding a hard border. In so doing, I have been equally clear that we will only pursue solutions that are compatible with our aim of protecting the integrity of the Single Market and Ireland’s place in it.

The EU guidelines adopted by the Taoiseach and his counterparts on 29 April fully take account of the Government’s priority of protecting the Good Friday Agreement and the gains of the peace process, including the need for flexible and imaginative solutions to avoid a hard border, as well as recognising bilateral agreements and arrangements between Ireland and the United Kingdom, including the common travel area.

Neither Ireland’s status of neutrality nor our corporation tax rate has been raised in any of my engagements with EU partners, or those of my officials, in the context of the European Union’s negotiation guidelines and directives. These are matters which have no bearing on the forthcoming negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. I have been struck by the very genuine level of engagement and understanding demonstrated by our EU partners of the significant political challenges Brexit poses for Ireland and, in particular, the peace process. Finding solutions will be a challenging exercise, but my engagement with EU partners has left me fully confident that we can count on their support as we seek the right outcome for Ireland at the end of what will be a complex set of negotiations.

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