Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the leaders of the various parties for attending the all-island civic dialogue and staying to hear the contributions of other leaders. Many leaders stayed well into the day to speak to some of the young people who were in attendance. I thank leaders for that. This valuable dialogue has taken place on a number of occasions. It is not just about politicians talking to politicians - it also involves politicians talking to farmers and business leaders etc. I am delighted that someone from the Orange Order attended yesterday's meeting. It was very welcome. It was very useful to have young people and people from all the different sectors in attendance. It was great to have Michel Barnier here in Ireland. He visited Dundalk and he went to the North as well. He heard from stakeholders and explained to them the EU's position with regard to Brexit. The EU is willing to make special treatment and special provisions for Northern Ireland that it cannot make for the UK as a whole.

Regarding my visit to the North yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit the port of Warrenpoint, which is one of the few ports in Ireland I had not previous visited. As a former Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I like my ports and airports. I also visited the Jethro Centre in Lurgan, which has received funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It serves both communities but has its origin as the Protestant parish centre. The visit I enjoyed the most was my visit to New-Bridge Integrated College, which is one of the integrated education secondary schools in Northern Ireland. It is called New-Bridge because it is halfway between Newry and Banbridge and takes kids from both towns. It was really great to have a glimpse or an insight into what a shared future might look like in Northern Ireland. It is attended by kids from both communities and none. Many kids from new communities and migrant communities, including kids from Asian backgrounds, are there too. It gave me a great sense of what the new Northern Ireland might look like.

My visit to Northern Ireland yesterday was deliberately low-key. I can tell Deputy Burton that I have to judge on the day of each visit what is the purpose of the visit. It was very much a low-key visit. I did not have an entourage of local politicians or politicians from the Twenty-six Counties of the Republic with me. I did not invite a big gaggle of media personnel either, although one or two journalists turned up. The particular reason I took this approach was that the only people I have met on my most recent visits to Northern Ireland have been officials and politicians. When I have tried to interact with people, I have found myself surrounded by officials and politicians, with the media snapping me and asking me questions. I wanted to talk to everyday people in a low-key manner about their concerns with regard to Brexit and about their hopes for the future. I wanted to hear from young people who live near the Border in Newry and Banbridge on how they feel about these issues. Approximately 40% of the traffic that comes into Warrenpoint, which is a very important port, turns left and comes across the Border into the Republic of Ireland. I also had a really interesting visit to the Jethro Centre.

Regardless of what others might have to say about it, I certainly felt very welcome in Northern Ireland and I intend to visit again. There will be low-key visits and there will be full-protocol formal visits as well. I have to say that any time I go North of the Border, I feel very welcome on all sides. The protocol is that I contact the Northern Ireland Office. That is done by my protocol department. We have to do that because they provide security. We had some Police Service of Northern Ireland security with us. In the absence of an Executive, it is not possible to contact an Executive or Government in Northern Ireland. There is no Executive, so I contact the Northern Ireland Office instead. I saw Lord Kilclooney's tweet. I had thought it was a parody account, but seemingly it is not. It is for real. That is all I will say about that.

The EU position with regard to June and October, which of course is Ireland's position because we negotiate as a group of 27 member states, is outlined in the guidelines. We will meet again at the June Council meeting to review progress. As the Tánaiste has said, as I have said and as Michel Barnier has said, we need to see real and substantial progress on the text of the withdrawal agreement by June. If the withdrawal agreement does not contain a protocol on Ireland and on the Irish Border, there will be no withdrawal agreement. I think we are all very clear in that regard.

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