Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I think that is a very worthy question in respect of Palestine and I would be interested to hear the Taoiseach's answer. It is hard, when we look at Germany now and witness its political and economic strength, to imagine what it was like 30 years ago when it was divided, disunited and split by the iron curtain. I very much welcomed the fact that Chancellor Merkel made the equivalence between any notion of hardening the border on the island of Ireland and the Berlin wall itself. Politically, there is certainly a parallel. A decision was taken by the European Council in Dublin Castle in April 1990 and, as a result of that decision, the EEC as it was then became an active persuader for the reunification of Germany, quite correctly.

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