Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind the House, as the Deputy has, that Brexit is not Ireland's policy. We do not agree with it. We believe it is a mistake but, at the same time, we must respect the decision of the UK as a whole, which has voted to leave the European Union. We also have an obligation to ensure that, because Ireland is uniquely exposed and vulnerable to the politics of Brexit, we remain very much part of the negotiations to ensure we are protecting the core interests of Irish people, North and South, and many British people living on this island who may be negatively affected by unintended consequences from the fallout of Brexit, consequences that were not discussed during the Brexit referendum campaign for the most part and whose complexity was not understood when many people voted to leave the EU. Perhaps they understand it now. What the UK Prime Minister, the Irish Government and Mr. Michel Barnier and his team have had to do was deal with the complexity to ensure we turn a decision by a majority in the UK to leave the EU into a practical set of legal commitments in a treaty, which can organise and manage the arrangement to limit the fallout, protect vulnerable communities and people and ensure we have the closest possible future relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU in the future to allow for trade, political co-operation and so much more besides. That is what the past 12 months of intensive negotiations on the text of this treaty, on which we signed off last night, have been about.

I hope it will not be a question of a majority versus a minority in Northern Ireland trying to win the argument against each other in the weeks ahead. We need to ensure that minorities, in addition to majorities, in Northern Ireland are reassured that any wording of a legal treaty related to Brexit is not a threat to them and that we can try to protect, where possible, the status quoon this island so neighbours and people with very different backgrounds ideas and dreams for the future of their country can live together, understanding that we are protecting the core interests of everybody. That is what we are trying to do.

The taking of absolutist positions has been, and continues to be, unhelpful in trying to find a way forward. There are certain things everybody wants from this treaty. One is no return to a physical hard border on this island. We now have guarantees that prevent that. We want to ensure the common travel area between Britain and Ireland remains intact. That is in the agreement and catered for. We wanted to make sure the land bridge that is Britain, which allows us to get goods to and from this island, can continue to be used efficiently. In this regard, there is strong wording in the text.

The Good Friday Agreement is 20 years old this year. It is the foundation for allowing people to live in the absence of violence, by and large. It was not possible before the agreement. It was a matter of ensuring that this agreement would be protected in all its parts. That is in the interest of Britain as well as that of Ireland. That is why the UK Prime Minister, to her credit, has faced people down when necessary to ensure the importance of the Good Friday Agreement to the United Kingdom and Ireland would be factored in during the negotiations.

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