Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a fact. All of us in this House have to face up to this. In the words of Mr. Michel Barnier, the clock is ticking. If we continue as we are, with Britain saying there will be a soft or seamless border and us saying there will be no border, what will happen when, suddenly in March 2019, we will be in different customs unions? What will physically happen then? Rather than talking around the issue, we need to have concrete proposals. The only solution that works for us is the maintenance of a single customs union on the island of Ireland. I hope that, between Britain and Ireland, that is achievable, but we need to explain the consequences of it not happening.

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