Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The interests of the whole island will be protected. I am sincere about that and I mean it. No matter what happens, we will look at this from an all-island perspective and not just from the vantage of this State.

I recognise and largely concur with some of Deputy Micheál Martin's comments. The architects of the Good Friday Agreement, many of whom, including the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, were from the Deputy's party, as well as others such as Tony Blair, John Hume, David Trimble and Deputy Adams, overcame such considerable obstacles in securing a ceasefire, securing British troop withdrawals from Northern Ireland, securing decommissioning, gaining acceptance for power-sharing across Northern Ireland, in which many people did not believe at one stage, and gaining acceptance of the principle of consent, that 20 years ago must have seemed too great to overcome. They were overcome, however, which is why it behoves those who are now in office, such as me, Prime Minister May and people who hold influence in Northern Ireland and here, not to be found wanting or fall short of the high standards that were set by those people 20 years ago.

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