Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to speak on Northern Ireland. It is fair to say that it is only since the onset of Brexit and the reality of what that will mean for Ireland has the position and role of the North started to receive the kind of sustained political attention it deserves and needs. We are all only too aware of the complex nature of the position in which we find ourselves. Thanks in part to our history and geography in the context of our nearest neighbours, the problems have been even more complex. To date we have witnessed enormous confusion around the approach that should be adopted. Most of us are agreed that there is an absolute need to avoid a hard border, but that idea is receiving a mixed reaction in both Europe and the UK. For some it is a possibility while for others it is inevitable that a hard border will have to be constructed. I travel once a year to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and have seen the border that has been constructed there, using EU funds. It is enormous and is nothing like anything we saw in the North in the past. I have travelled to the North many times, through Aughnacloy and Caledon but the buildings and the structures on the Croatian border are nothing like what were in place in the North. The Croatian border was built by Europe, and much as we might say that we will not have such a border here, I think we will and that is the problem. That will set us back economically, culturally and politically. It will be a huge setback.

The respected international think thank, Copenhagen Economics, has found that in all scenarios Brexit will have negative impacts on Irish trade, with adverse and knock-on effects on Irish production and ultimately on Irish GDP. Its recent study found that increased trade costs will lower Irish exports of goods and services by approximately 3% to 8% by 2030. Brexit will lower Irish GDP by approximately 3% to 7% by 2030. The following five sectors account for the vast majority of the total impact of Brexit: agrifood, pharma-chemicals, electrical machinery, wholesale and retail and air transport. I have a lot of relations and friends along the Border. There are farms along the Border that are only divided by barbed wire fences and it is just impossible to imagine the impact that Brexit will have on cross-Border trade, on movements of milk, butter and so forth. These are profoundly disturbing findings and should be a source of concern to us all.

Leaving aside the economic issues for a moment, there is also a real and pressing fear that the bonds that enabled us to move forward in a era of reconciliation are fast disintegrating. At this point I wish to pay tribute to all of those who were involved in the peace process, in particular to two people from Tipperary, the late Reverend Alex Reid and the former Senator, Deputy and Minister of State, Mr. Martin Mansergh. They played a huge role in the process along with many others, including the late Albert Reynolds and the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. They developed very special relationships and that cannot be forgotten. However, old ways of talking and thinking seem to be re-emerging and a noticeable animosity has crept back in between North and South. The fragmented loyalties within the DUP and the British Conservative party are making progress almost impossible. The situation is very delicate in that regard. There seems to be very little capacity or willingness to rise above internal disputes and to move toward the strengthening of the Good Friday Agreement and the peace that it has brought. We must not have the agreement undermined in any way, but it is becoming the victim of a return to the type of tribal politics that we had hoped we had seen the back of. Indeed, young people today have no memory of the Troubles in the North. Of course, passions and loyalties run deep, but in the past these were able to be acknowledged with respect in an effort to gain peace, and that was a huge achievement. That objective seems to be weakening all of the time. That said, I have faith in the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney and his ability to talk the talk and to be patient. I remember his patience, stamina and energy during the Government formation talks two years ago and he will need all of that now. If we add to this the fear and uncertainty that the economic consequences of Brexit may bring, then what we have is a potent and dangerous combination that may have very long-lasting consequences.

To return briefly to the findings of the study by Copenhagen Economics, we see that the reliance on the UK market is even greater for certain Irish exports such as cheddar cheese at 65% and butter at 54% Raw milk and fresh milk is normally not traded outside the UK but there is some trade in milk with Ireland. Approximately 600 to 700 million litres of milk is imported from Northern Ireland for processing in Ireland. Anyone who goes to Monaghan will see the milk trucks crossing over and back at the Border. This North-South milk trade may not be commercially viable if tariffs and border costs are imposed. That is but one example. Another is the effect on the retail sector. The Copenhagen Economics analysis found that the retail sector is dependent on the free movement of people and employees between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. We all remember the days of the checkpoints and the customs posts. One would often meet checkpoints along the roads beyond the Border too. I travelled across the Border many times, from Aughnacloy up to Omagh and beyond. The retail sector would be negatively impacted by an inability to operate on an all-island basis from both a product and a people perspective. We cannot slip back to the days of smuggling, fuel laundering and so forth. It is unthinkable that we would revisit that scenario.

All of this spells clear trouble ahead if there is no satisfactory political resolution. I was interested to watch a recent vox pop from Belfast last week and the majority of people interviewed on the streets expressed clear and unambiguous frustration and anger with the political culture that has produced so much stagnation over the last year and half. Since the untimely passing of the late Martin McGuinness, relations seem to have deteriorated rapidly. Arlene Foster seems genuinely unable to muster the kind of open or reconciling approach that characterised her predecessors. That is not a personal criticism but it does speak to how we may have to prepare ourselves for a longer-term lack of political movement, and that is a pity.

In terms of the actions of our own Government, I welcome the sincerity and openness which the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, has adopted in his approach. I also welcome his willingness to be extremely blunt and frank with both the political leadership within the EU and with the political leadership of the North when it comes to expressing the interests of the Republic. I am afraid the same cannot be said of the Taoiseach who, along with Mrs. May, was left humiliated a fortnight ago when their joint meeting fell absolutely flat, with no positive outcome achieved. He was too certain about the bulletproof agreement and was too gung-ho before Christmas and now he is paying the price. If he had shown any interest in the talks and the issues pertaining to Northern Ireland, he would have seen that there were huge difficulties and that the situation was hugely fraught. He should have known that the talks could have been derailed at any time. He was more gung-ho than he should have been. We had hoped that some breakthrough was possible given that both the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister had travelled to the North, but unfortunately that did not happen.

I also think that was premature. It created expectations that were too high. They were badly advised, whoever advised them or brought them up. It was way too soon and enough groundwork had not been done. Indeed, he could take a lesson from the former Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, in having patience. Mr. Ahern left his own mother's graveside to return to those talks.

This, it seems, is something like the Taoiseach's firm assurances that the agreement he had reached some months ago in Europe was made of cast iron political guarantees. We now know this was far from being the case. If that is the kind of cast-iron guarantees he is talking about, the scrap metal Bill that I tried to introduce and that the Government would not enact should be brought in for some of the Taoiseach's wordings. All the spin in the world from his new communications unit will not make that a reality. What we need is hard graft, although I do not think the Taoiseach is known for that, and patience. I genuinely do not say that to criticise. I say that because there is more than an element of jumping the gun at play here. The Taoiseach rushed out to the nearest camera and shouted, "Victory in Europe", only to be politically embarrassed by his so-called partners a short time later.

Northern Ireland needs and deserves strong and capable political leadership that can put the interests of its people ahead of party political rivalries. The saying used to be, "A lot done, more to do". Tús maith, leath na hoibre - but that was a false start that the Taoiseach announced before Christmas.

There are too many open sores in Northern Ireland, from the Dublin and Monaghan bombings to the Omagh bombing. I have worked with a group in the last number of years and I have a lot of connections with Omagh. My wife spent seven years there working in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital and I have been up and down to Omagh. Sadly, the families in Omagh have been let down by the former Taoiseach and former Fine Gael leader, Deputy Enda Kenny, who, at a Fine Gael Ard-Fheis, pointed to them in the audience and told them what he would do for them. He said they would get no justice from the Fianna Fáil Government of the day but that they would get it from him. Then he ran away from them, let them down and abandoned them. They came in one day and sat up in the Gallery and during Leaders' Questions I asked the then Taoiseach to wave at them when there were no cameras on him. Sadly, they were let down.

The anniversary of Mr. Aidan McAnespie, who was murdered at Aughnacloy, is around this time and there is little or nothing happening as regards a proper investigation and having all his remains returned to be buried with the rest of his body to enable his father to get some semblance of justice at this stage of his life. I knew people who worked with him in Monaghan Poultry and the blackguarding he got was unbelievable. I salute RTÉ for the recent item on the Mary Wilson show - I do not know which of the journalists did it, the name will not come to me. It gave a five-day chronology of the events and interviewed people. That has to be dealt with and brought up. Justice delayed is justice denied and there was no justice. It was summary justice he got with the fobbed off story that a gun slipped and a bullet ricocheted. That was proven beyond all doubt to be untrue by the autopsy but his rib cage was never returned from the hospitals in Northern Ireland, although it should have been. It is just not acceptable that those sores are left open. Those issues have still not been dealt with.

I was in Omagh the morning after the bombing and met Prince Charles and the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Mo Mowlam, who was quite ill at the time, but she was there. I saw the horror and devastation that was there. There are unanswered questions as to why that bomb was not stopped or derailed when people knew it was on its way. Sources and agents had to be protected. It was and is disgraceful and the families have not got any honest answers. So much time has passed since it happened. Those issues will remain even if we get this agreement back on the road. We need an honest appraisal of what went on and we need answers. I have met Sergeant John White several times and he became a scapegoat in my opinion. I have met the families. His name eludes me now, but I asked a man after the film was produced how true it was and he said it was 95% accurate. That is what happened. Agents of our State were literally colluding. That bomb was known to be travelling and it was a travesty that it was not taken off the road because of fear of protecting sources. What sources were worth leaving 29 people dead, including a baby in the womb?

These things have to be sorted out. Justice delayed is justice denied and time is not on our side. I appeal to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and I will be appealing to the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions very soon to take up where the former Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, fell down badly in giving such hopes to the Omagh families at a Fine Gael Ard-Fheis just to get votes. He put them on the television for the whole country to see and then in this House he would not meet them and ran away from them in a corridor.

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