Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday in the discussions in the British Parliament, Mrs. May stated the backstop would have to be short term. She stated the EU would not allow it to remain for long because the EU would not want the UK to have access to EU markets for an indeterminate period of time. The explanation by Mrs May, notwithstanding the enormous support we have received from other EU member countries, has to be of concern to us in the context that if the backstop was to disappear, as people such as those in the DUP would like, it would leave the North and South very exposed if there were no alternative arrangements. In that context, has the Taoiseach had any opportunities to discuss what might happen? The opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice is possibly very helpful to us. It seems to me Mrs. May is now being boxed into a corner where she is offering a fairly quick withdrawal from the backstop and is not clear about the alternatives. The implications for the North and the South are pretty worrying.

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