Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not want Britain to leave the European Union. I want the island of Ireland to remain in the European Union but we are in a negotiation following Britain deciding through a referendum to leave. We need to ensure that we protect Ireland's vulnerabilities, both North and South, in that context. We are negotiating through a European task force led by Michel Barnier, who understands the Irish issues very well. We are at one with the EU task force's approach here, which is to take a tough position to protect the concerns on the island of Ireland, ensure that there is no hard border in the future and that the Good Friday Agreement in all of its facets, particularly with regard to North-South co-operation, can function in the future. It is recognised in the task force that, to do that, the same rule book needs to apply to both jurisdictions. It would make it much easier to do that if we could stay in the same customs union. I do not think we disagree on most things. We need to be consistent to ensure that the British Government understands that Ireland will stubbornly stick to this position because we must and will protect the interests of our own citizens.

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