Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did reference nationalists at the very beginning of my remarks when I said no one on this island wanted a hard border, including nationalism, as articulated in Northern Ireland. I made the point in my question, which the Taoiseach did not answer, namely, that the absence and contrived collapse of the Executive and the Assembly in Northern Ireland have not served the people of Northern Ireland well, irrespective of the traditions from which they emanate or the political traditions that they represent. In fact, if the Assembly were in place today there would be a majority in favour of remaining or against Brexit, but the tragedy is that for the past 12 months that opinion has been silenced, in many ways by the absence of a democratically elected forum in Northern Ireland. I have been saying that since the day it collapsed.

Given the enormity of Brexit and its potential damage to Northern Ireland I do not understand that politicians could in my view contrive the collapse of that Executive and Assembly and allow it not to be restored over 12 months. The North-South Ministerial Council would have been a very useful conduit, for example, between the Government and elected Ministers from the North. Does the Taoiseach not think that has been a very significant damaging factor in all of this? It is interesting that Scotland, London and Wales have all said they want the same type of agreement. What that illustrates is that there is a lot of opinion in the United Kingdom that does not favour a hard Brexit and I think it would be worth our while to reach out to that community in Britain who want a close relationship to Ireland and to the EU - in essence the equivalent of the customs union they currently enjoy.

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