Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can see that some things are contagious across this House. However, some people may support this legislation with some difficulty but the fact is there is no other option; there is no alternative. It is in the interests of this country and its people that the political establishment here, and those who claim not to be part of the establishment, stand together in the national interest and wear the green jersey for this country. I believe they have done that to a great extent, and that must be acknowledged.

Some of us are long enough around this House to remember the early days of what is now known as the European Union. My first vote was on that particular referendum. One had to be a little older at that time - 21 years of age - to vote for the first time. I recall the people who advised us that we were voting on a crucial issue, and they advised us well. The decision taken by the Irish people then was a clear decision. To a certain extent, it may well have been a step into the unknown but the people who voted in that referendum knew what they were voting for, and they voted in their own interest and in the national interest. That is something for which we have to be grateful.

We are also long enough around to remember people like Pierre Pflimlin and other Members and Presidents of the European Parliament who set about putting in place their particular views on what Europe should be, and they did it well. They spoke with us at the time and explained to us where they were coming from, which was from a Europe when it lay in ashes and everybody was standing around after the most appalling war that cost 70,000 lives. It was a good time to concentrate everybody's minds, and everybody's minds were concentrated at that time, and to good effect. The decisions were taken to ensure that, hopefully, we would never again see ourselves in that position. It is with a certain sadness that we find ourselves where we are now.

Another issue is the extent to which this country, as an island nation, is affected by the decision of our next door neighbour to decide to leave the European Union. If the information that is available now throughout the UK had been made available at the time of the referendum, we would not speaking in the manner we are speaking tonight. There is a lesson to be learned from that. It is always good to get the information that is most pertinent and to make it available to the people when they are making a decision. Nigel Farage, for instance, spent many years in the European Parliament undermining the European concept, undermining the European Parliament and promising to dismember it in one shape or another. That is what he did, and he can take credit for it. He might not be so happy to take credit for what happens afterwards, and a major problem will eventually emerge if Europe goes in this particular direction. If Europe were to fragment, as is the objective of some people - not in this Parliament, I might add - disaster will follow. It is no good saying that we have developed ourselves to such an extent that that will never happen again. That is not true. That is not the way things have worked in the past. That is not the way things have worked in other jurisdictions. That is not the way things have worked across the globe. It is in our interests to ensure we use our influence in a positive, constructive way to dissuade people who wish to break up the concept of the European Union.

Adenauer, Schuman, Monnet and the other people who were the founding fathers of what is now modern Europe set about their task all those years ago, recognising what had happened in the past and, from an informed position, deciding that these things should never happen again because of what happened.

As far as those of us in this Parliament are concerned, we have done all the things that had to be done, not only in Ireland's interest but also in the interest of Europe. It must be remembered that 500 million people is a huge market. A decision to leave that market should be taken into account very seriously. I do not wish to advise our colleagues across the water but it is no harm to remind everybody that moving outside what we have become accustomed to and worked with for several years is not moving back to the good old days, as some would see it; it is moving into the unknown. The world has moved on. Trade has changed. Telecommunications have changed. Transport has changed. Everything has changed since the 1970s, and in a positive way, as it has in this island as well.

We need to recognise where we came from and where we can go from here. In every way possible we can influence the course of Europe in the future, we should so do because we have benefited greatly from Europe. Our colleagues across the water may well say to us that it has not been that way for everybody. I am not so sure about that. Europe has progressed considerably and each country within the European Union has benefited greatly from the availability of that 500 million plus market.

In terms of the negative outcome of the referendum in the UK, it was supposed to be a non-binding referendum, which is sad when one thinks about it. It has suddenly become more binding than ever before, affecting a greater number of people than ever before, and also affecting the future construction and geopolitical mass of Europe. That is something we have to take into consideration and absorb.

On this island, we also have the Good Friday Agreement. We have come to know the all-island economy, North and South, working together and benefiting from European Union membership, from each other's existence and from the new trading arrangements that have progressed over the past 20 years. We thought this could never happen but it came in the wake of a war that went on for 30 years. Most wars in Europe go on for a much shorter time and have disastrous results, but the running sore that was effectively an internal or civil war on this island went on for 30 years. It took a great deal of negotiation by many people, parties and personalities to bring it to an end. Some of us thought for a long time that it would never happen and it would not be possible to achieve an agreement along the lines of the Good Friday Agreement. Unfortunately, the people of the adjoining island, albeit not all of them, have taken a decision to leave the EU. Sadly, the people of Scotland and Northern Ireland, who opted to remain, are now being told their preferences have been noted but they must go along with the majority which has decided to leave.

Incidentally, I am somewhat concerned about another matter regarding the non-binding referendum that took place in the UK. There are obvious signs that there will be another referendum. That would be the correct decision because there is much more information available now to people in the UK and across Europe than was available at the time of the referendum. Apart from promises made by people who were pursuing a particular political agenda, those issues have emerged now in a less positive way than they were presented at the time. To those who say the referendum is sacrosanct and we cannot negotiate around it, I say with all humility that if one applies that principle in general, one must conclude that, after a country holds an election, no further elections should be held because the people have made their decision. That is not a logical argument and I cannot understand why it is being used.

We stand on the verge in respect of the Good Friday Agreement and the all-island economy, for which we strove and which we achieved and have nurtured at great political cost. We should not allow it to be frittered away by anybody. In fairness to all sides of this House, due regard has been had for the achievements and benefits, North and South. It is now obvious that we have a common cause to ensure that our colleagues in Northern Ireland of both traditions have an even chance of prospering in the future Europe, whatever that may hold. We are all saddened that it has not been shown so far that we will see in the future the progress that we have had in the past.

To be fair to the British Prime Minister, Mrs. Theresa May, she has endeavoured to achieve an orderly exit, not that Brexit will be of any benefit to anybody but at least it is orderly. Mrs. May has tried time and again to bring a plan through her Parliament and so far it has not happened. I hope it will happen because she has tried and we should recognise that. However, there are some with influence in the UK Parliament who obviously do not think that way. That is fine, but if every country in the European Union decided to pursue a similar course, Europe would cease to be and the Single Market and customs union would go. We must recognise that with that would go stability.

In the world in which we live now there is a certain amount of instability. Right across the globe, there is the emergence of individualism and a harking back to the so-called "good old days". I and others have stated in this House in the recent past that one has to look carefully to see what the good old days were. Presumably, people are referring to the early part of the 20th century. If one looks closely at those good old days, one will find that almost 70 million people died in two world wars. They were hardly the good old days from the point of view of those who participated and fought in those wars. They did not know at the time what they were fighting for at the time and to a great extent, we still do not know. However, they made sacrifices and, sadly, in many cases it was the ultimate sacrifice. All Europeans should remember that now and put aside their petty political ambitions and recognise for the good of all that we have a common cause and we need to stand together. We need to fight for, uphold and speak for that common cause. We must also act in accordance with the way we speak and vice versa.

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle spent many years on the European circuit and knows it better than most. The participation of our representatives at European level is the reason Irish people are so readily prepared to accept the Europe that has emerged and of which we are part. I hope that will continue but if it does not, we need to recognise that our future lies with the Single Market, the customs union and access to a broadening market. In fairness, Irish people have shown repeatedly that they strongly support that, and rightly so.

Without the European Union, Ireland would have been less able to face the issues it faced over the past 40 years. In the past, we did not have the support we have received in the course of our membership of the European Union. Similarly, the European Union did not have the cohesiveness, single-mindedness, objectivity and vision that we as a small country provided for our European colleagues. We may well be only a small country, but those who have been involved, such as the Members of the European Parliament and various Governments, realise that we had a contribution to make. Maybe in the beginning it was not well recognised across the board, but we have done that. It is now generally recognised that we have made a positive contribution at European level, even though we were a small country. We have also have made an economic contribution, more so in recent times when we were called upon during the recession to dig deep both in our pockets and in terms of our commitment. We must once again stipulate our need to stay in the European circuit and to improve and enhance it.

Europe has also stood the test of time. From time to time, we all have raised issues that we felt would be better handled in a different fashion. That has always been the case. That is democracy and democracy is open and free. That is its strength and weakness, as has been shown in the past. The Europe we inherited from the original founding fathers was divided, impoverished and full of bitterness in the wake of two world wars. However, by virtue of commitment, conviction and dedication, Europe evolved into what it is today.

I am saddened, as is everybody else in the House, that people such as Nigel Farage saw otherwise. The Battle of Agincourt is a long way away and it has been a long time since it happened. There is no use living in that era and there is no use living in the past. We have to look to the future; we can influence the future but we cannot influence the past. In looking to the future we can learn from the mistakes of the past and we can vow never to allow them to be repeated.

I speak on this important legislation in the hope it will never be enacted or needed. I do not agree with those who suggest the Irish Government should have set out what it proposed to do on all of these issues far in advance. In fact, I strongly disagree. In a negotiating situation if we start setting out where we intend to go beforehand then there is only one place we can go. Anybody who has ever played poker will always know there is a time to hold them, a time to fold them, a time to walk away and a time to run. The fact of the matter is we are not in the business of running, we are in the business of being constructive. We are staying on board and sticking with the project. If we continue to do what we have done so far and keep our cool, reason will prevail and I hope that it does.

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