Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin gave a very qualified welcome to the communiqué on Friday. Our approach was vindicated by subsequent contradictory statements from British Government Ministers.

Of course, the joint report is not the conclusion of the process or the final binding legal deal on Brexit. It sets out broad principles and represents some progress, but there are many unanswered questions on key issues. The Irish Government needs to remain focused and vigilant and should not over-egg the achievements. There have been some achievements. The joint report recognises the unique and special circumstances of the North - although it could hardly do otherwise - the importance of the peace process and the need to ensure that there will be no hard border. It also asserts that the Good Friday Agreement will be at the heart of any eventual agreements. However, it also contains important contradictions, including some relating to the Good Friday Agreement. For example, the insistence by the British that the North must leave the customs union and the Single Market is of particular concern and totally disrespects the democratic vote of the people in that part of our island. The British assertion that they will leave the customs union and the Single Market contradicts the British Prime Minister's claim that there will not be a hard economic border. Michel Barnier has already stated that it is very difficult to see how these two competing imperatives can be reconciled.

On Sunday, the British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, described the contents of the joint report as merely a "statement of intent". On Monday, the European Commission confirmed that the joint report is not legally binding and described it as a "deal between gentlemen". This morning, it was reported that the EU Ministers might suspend Brexit negotiations if Britain reneges on its phase 1 commitments. It will be interesting to see if the Taoiseach supports that approach.

It is stated in paragraph 53 of the joint report that there should be no diminution of citizens' rights caused by the UK's departure from the European Union. However, when I pressed the Taoiseach on a number of occasions on the joint report's possible impact on the rights of Irish - and therefore EU - citizens in the North and, in particular, whether they would have access to the European Court of Justice, he would not and did not answer. There was no clarity. It took until yesterday to get that clarity. Then we learned that, after an eight-year period, the British will not allow the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice to apply to the North and, apparently, the Taoiseach has agreed to this. Citizens in the North, therefore, will not have access to the European Court of Justice. If this be what has been done, the Government will have signed up to an agreement which will strip Irish citizens living in the North of their EU rights. When I asked the Taoiseach about this earlier and said it was a breach of the Good Friday Agreement, he said he would check it out. With respect, he should have checked it out long before this. As he said in his statement earlier, under the Good Friday Agreement, people in the North have the right to Irish citizenship which includes the right to European Union citizenship. That has to include access to the European institutions.

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