Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to note that the Government was persuaded by Sinn Féin of the need for an all-island view. Eventually the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister of State and their officials applied themselves to this, especially after the change of the Fine Gael leadership. I commend all involved, including the officials.

I also acknowledge the positive role that Sinn Féin played, including and especially our team in the European Parliament, which engaged regularly with Mr. Michel Barnier and other EU officials, as did the party president, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, and Michelle O'Neill, MLA. They presented clear and cogent arguments for a special designated status for the North. The outlined backstop proposal owes much to their hard work.

Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment on the need to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the North. An cuimhin leis an Taoiseach that last December he said that citizens in the North would never again be left behind by an Irish Government? He added: "These rights will, of course, be available to everyone in Northern Ireland who chooses to exercise his or her right to be an Irish citizen, regardless of his or her political persuasion or religious beliefs."

Last December's joint report stated there would be "no diminution of rights" and that "Irish citizens will continue to enjoy rights as EU citizens, including where they reside in Northern Ireland". That has now been deleted and it is a significant backward step. The draft agreement contains a clause on rights, but it is not legally binding and not what the Taoiseach committed to last December. The Government should be aware that Irish citizens in the North are conscious of this. Recently 1,000 leaders of civic nationalism reminded the Taoiseach of his commitments. I am sure the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Taoiseach have got to know some of them. They are same as me and other Deputies; they are thinking human beings who are now locked out of the rights the Taoiseach promised to uphold for them.

There is particular annoyance that Irish and EU citizens in the North will not be able to elect an MEP. The State is being allocated an additional two seats in the European Parliament. Has the Government considered allocating them to the North? In addition, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights will no longer apply in the North, which means that certain rights will be undermined. There are a range of other social and economic rights, including workers' rights, which people currently enjoy in the European Union which will be left to the British Government's discretion. Will the Government insist - I wrote to the Minister involved some time ago - on the publication of the mapping report which identified 142 areas of all-island co-operation as called for by the EU Ombudsman?

Let us be clear that Brexit is incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement demands that the British Government exercise its power in the North with rigorous impartiality. Many of us justifiably remain sceptical about this, but that is what the British Government signed up to and that is to what the Irish Government must hold it. The refusal of the British to defend the rights of Irish language speakers and women's rights, protect equality and human rights for gay and lesbian citizens, implement legacy agreements, or honour outstanding agreement commitments to establish a Bill of Rights and create a civic forum is evidence of the absence of rigorous impartiality. Moreover, following Brexit, British Conservatives remain wedded to ending the role of the European Court of Justice and getting rid of the UK Human Rights Act 1998 which protects the equality and human rights principles of the agreement. I outline all of this to bring context and reality to this discussion. There is also, in that context, greater significance attached to the objective of Irish unity. From our point of view, it is a logical, common-sense outcome to the political, social and economic divisions imposed by partition, but it also makes sense in the current Brexit-provoked crisis. Apart from other considerations, reunification would allow the North to again become part of the European Union. Rather than having a hard or soft border, it would be better to have no border at all. That is what the Government and the Oireachtas should be working for.

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