Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to working towards the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements. As the Minister will be well aware, the Good Friday Agreement has come under attack in recent days from the hard Brexiteer wing of the Tory party and other reactionary voices in Britain. In that vein, I welcome the comments of the Tánaiste yesterday during his visit to the United States. He said that Brexit cannot undermine the hard won gains of the peace process. That is very much to be welcomed.

As reported in the Irish Independenttoday, the British Government appears to accept the need to stay within the Single Market and the customs union for at least another two years. Will the Minister accept that the best way to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement is to ensure that the North stays in the Single Market and the customs union full stop? Will the Government now press for that as part of securing designated special status for the North within the European Union?

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