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

I thank Deputy Smith for offering the opportunity to speak in this very important debate. I do not go along with some of the things said, although I agree with many of them. I particularly want to congratulate the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs on the manner in which they have handled the negotiations to date through the European Union and ultimately with our colleagues across the Irish Sea. I also compliment the parties of this House in general for holding the line of solidarity in such a way as to give a clear indication to anybody looking on from any quarter that there was a certain degree of unity. It might not always happen in this country. There was a certain amount of unity in what the Irish nation was asked and it was clear that the endeavour was to retain the island of Ireland as an economic entity, which it had become over the last 20 years. We have been dealing with a borderless island for the last 20 years. People traded and travelled North and South. There were no checks, borders, hold-ups or anything. Both economies were allowed to flourish at will and they did. There have been tremendous benefits to communities both in the North of Ireland and here as a result of that.

I did an interview some time ago with a UK-based news outlet and the question was raised about the backstop and how it had to go. I questioned why it had to go and the answer I got was because it is undemocratic. It is there to support the Good Friday Agreement, which came after 30 years of appalling strife in this country with appalling atrocities committed by both sides. After all of that, we had the long drawn-out peace agreement that many of us thought would never happen because of the nature of the arrangements. It had broken down several times and there were breaks of confidence and so on but eventually it happened. We were very lucky in this island that it did happen. The backstop is there to protect the Good Friday Agreement. When they say the backstop is undemocratic, the Good Friday Agreement is not undemocratic. It was resoundingly supported by 94% of the population of the South and 72% of the people in Northern Ireland. That is dramatically in contrast with the referendum in the UK to leave or stay, when there was only 2.5% of a majority. Everybody talks about the 17 million people who voted to leave but nobody talks about the 16.5 people who voted to stay and they also had a valid case and a valid cause. The degree of solidarity within this House has been very impressive from the point of view of the people in this country and also the European Union. The European Union suddenly recognised; they came, they saw and they inspected and familiarised themselves with the territory. That was a good thing to see. It was great to see a small country like Ireland achieve such prominence as to be able to bring our colleagues large and small throughout the European Union around to thinking about us and our future.

I was interested to hear the US President recently sent a message to the effect that the US was strongly opposed to the Irish situation and in favour of the UK leaving the Union. I seem to recall that there was a civil war fought in the United States to retain a union 150 years ago or so. Perhaps they have changed now. I wonder if they would have been as impressed if one of the states like California or Texas wanted to leave the union over there. It might not go down so well. We have many difficulties that we have still to confront.

The Government is doing everything possible to alert business and industry to what is likely to happen. In a worst-case scenario, everything can happen. All that can be done is to alert the stakeholders, the main players, as to what the options are and try to make alternative arrangements insofar as we can. It will not be possible in all situations but it will be possible in some. The danger if we get into a debate about the whys and wherefores on this part of the island now is that we might end up in a squabble about something, and suddenly the onus would be shifted from the main issue. We would then be talking about the minutiae of what is going to happen to the extent that the UK authorities would be able to say the Irish had already committed to a UK break-out and have already made the arrangements. We need to be very careful not to allow ourselves to be dragged into becoming part of what the UK wants to do in order to push itself towards a break-out. My belief is that the intention is to have a break-out, and that it was always the intention from the very beginning. Nigel Farage spent 20 years in the European Parliament working day and night to bring that about. He is very influential and has hijacked the Tory Party, sadly, as it did a lot of things that were important and constructive, and held up its point of view without being negative.

In the final analysis I am not so hopeful about an orderly Brexit at this stage, but I fear the travail and trauma that will visit the UK economy in the first instance, which will be colossal. Nobody realises the extent of the damage that is likely to be done to the UK economy, in particular the British people who were never informed. Brexit will do damage to this island, North and South. The best possible option for this island, North and South, is the line the Government has been following steadfastly over the past two and a half years.

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