David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While it is the position of the European Commission and the European Parliament that the North should remain within the customs union, this will be subject to ongoing negotiation with the British Government. What we are trying to work out is what will be the end game. In other words, what will be in the withdrawal agreement. For Ireland, it is a red line that the North remains in the customs union because if it does not then we will be dealing with a border and an EU frontier on the island of Ireland and all talk of open borders and frictionless borders becomes a nonsense. This must be a red line issue for Ireland. Will the Minister of State confirm that this is also a red line issue for the Government?

Sinn Féin has put forward a proposal that the only way to protect the Good Friday Agreement in its entirety is to incorporate it as a protocol into the withdrawal agreement. This means that the Good Friday Agreement would have full legal protection and remain within the European Union and thereby citizens in the North would have access to the European Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights. We cannot cherry-pick the Good Friday Agreement and so it must, in its entirety, be incorporated as a protocol attached to the withdrawal agreement. Is this also the position of the Irish Government and is it an issue it will press with the Commission?

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