Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This morning the hard Brexiteer wing of the Tory party told Theresa May that any proposed British customs partnership with the European Union was a non-runner. The arch-Brexiteer that is Jacob Rees-Mogg has said that any such proposal is deeply unsatisfactory and that it would not get Britain out of the EU, which is what people voted for. I agree with him on the first point. A so-called customs partnership will not resolve the issues relating to the island of Ireland. It is unworkable and unachievable and I think that is accepted by Brussels and by the Taoiseach. My view on his second point is that the people in the North of Ireland who had the opportunity to vote actually voted to remain and so they have not consented to Brexit.

That was the clear and reinforced message Michel Barnier received on his visit to the North. To protect the economic and social interests of our island all of us, North and South, need to remain inside the customs union and the Single Market. As the Taoiseach knows, that is the best way to protect the Good Friday Agreement and citizens' rights in the North as well as to safeguard cross-Border trade. The British Government and the DUP simply have to come to terms with that reality. It is regrettable that Theresa May's Government has still not come to terms with the reality of what it agreed to in December. We should remember that. The backstop agreement, which is the bare minimum required and is of itself imperfect, was signed up to by the UK Government. I have said before that we really need clarity by June and I know others have sounded similar concerns. I have deep concern that running down the clock to October will be the strategy of the British system and Government. I believe that will leave us in a very difficult and potentially vulnerable position. Therefore, I too wish to know, come the end of June, what the Taoiseach believes must be achieved. What sufficiency does the Taoiseach envisage at that point?

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