Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also have the view that we will not reach a no deal scenario, although there will be many difficult hurdles between now and 30 March. Notwithstanding that there may be a series of votes in Westminster, it could take a number of directions, namely, anything from a British general election or a referendum to a second vote or a series of votes that gives a different result, but that is in the realm of speculation. It is extremely important to prepare properly. To date, the Dutch Government, for example, has been further ahead than us and hired 1,000 customs officers. There is a significant issue with our level of preparation across the board, including in enterprise. The number of companies that describe themselves as not ready for Brexit in surveys such as Bord Bia's and others' is a concern.

On unionism, I recall the Taoiseach's comments last week and I think he was attempting to educate me about the unionist mind. I have talked with unionists for more than 30 years, on many occasions off the record, and in my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs I managed to co-chair the discussions that resulted in the devolution of justice, which was the final act of the St. Andrews and Good Friday Agreements and which brought the administration of justice to a devolved setting in Northern Ireland. I respect unionists' opinions, although I fundamentally disagree with them on their attitude to the withdrawal agreement because it gives Northern Ireland the best of both worlds economically. It is a monumental failure on all sides that we are in this situation.

When one compares all the complex decisions, such as decommissioning, that were taken to get the Good Friday Agreement over the line with the kinds of issues that are preventing a Government in Northern Ireland, the current issues bear no resemblance to the real issues of substance that had to be overcome to achieve the Good Friday Agreement, the devolution of justice and so on. It reflects a monumental failure. I do not live in cloud-cuckoo-land. I have given much time and effort to Northern Ireland over many decades to try to understand it, coming from the republican background that I do. I have worked well with unionists, people from the nationalist and republican communities and public representatives on all sides. Irrespective of one's perspective, it is careless in the extreme to allow the institutions of government collapse because of a renewable heating scheme. That is beyond the beyond.

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