Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The last few days have been dominated by rows about communication and the ability of the Government to spin. It would be useful if some of those skills could be applied to the Brexit conundrum because there appears to be a unique difficulty communicating with the British Prime Minister. In her speech last Friday, Mrs. May indicated she and the Taoiseach agreed that both our countries would work alongside each other and the European Commission to find a solution on the Border. She appeared to suggest that the Taoiseach had taken a shared responsibility to find a solution. Her exact words were, "the Taoiseach and I agreed when we met recently that our teams and the Commission should now do just that." Speaking on "Morning Ireland" on Monday, however, the Taoiseach said there would be no three-way negotiations and that Ireland would conduct its talks as part of the EU 27.

It is beyond farcical that, 20 months into negotiations, weeks away from a crucial EU Council summit and little over a year before the UK actually leaves the European Union, the United Kingdom is still deaf to the fact that Ireland is negotiating as part of a bloc of 27, that the problems with the Border are a result of its red lines, and that it is incumbent upon the United Kingdom, as a country that has decided democratically to leave, to come up with solutions. On Monday in Westminster, the British Prime Minister proposed the US–Canada border as an example of a solution. It is a classic hard border. The EU Commission has translated the December agreement into legal terms but immediately the draft was published, the British Prime Minister ruled it out as completely unacceptable and as an agreement that no Prime Minister of Britain could sign up to, yet that is exactly what she had done in December.

The undeniable truth now is that the irreconcilable fudge at the heart of the backstop is that it is not possible for there to be no border on the island of Ireland or between this island and Britain if Britain pulls out of the Single Market and the customs union. To quote Michel Barnier, "The clock is ticking." The probability of no deal is increasing every day. It appears that even agreements hard negotiated can be resiled from with ease immediately after they are made.

Is it not time for this House and the Government to state, in absolutely clear terms, that the backstop position which was formally agreed between the EU and the UK last December cannot be achieved if the UK, as a whole, is not a member of the customs union or does not apply the rules of the Single Market? Is that not the fundamental truth that must be now clearly stated?

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