Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We need a very close working relationship. In the context of our exports and imports, there is great interdependence and has been for years. There are people travelling and the common travel area is obviously protected. The relationships are significant and, as Deputy Martin Kenny said, we are intertwined at all levels, even at micro level. I read an interesting article in the Sunday Business Post about Drum, a small area. Fields are straddling the Border. There is no thought given by those hard Brexiteers. One of them was mouthing last week, Boris Johnson. He did not even know and obviously has never visited the area and has no concept of the degree of interdependence. We have it in the agri industry, for example Lakeland and the dairying industry, as well as the pig and sheep industries. There is such a degree of interrelatedness and interoperability. There has to be free flow of goods. Apart altogether from the significance of the Good Friday Agreement and all it entails, mere common sense would dictate that this is critical. North, South, east and west, there has to be free flow. The Minister of State and the Government will have our full support in trying to achieve this.

See this speech in context