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

The meeting of the European Council on Thursday is critical for all of or futures. Britain's decision to leave the EU has shaped and influenced politics on this island for the past three years and it will shape our history into the future. We are making these statements at a time when the prospect of a deal has greatly increased. From the very start, Sinn Féin's focus has been on ensuring that the impact of Brexit on Ireland is minimised. We have always asserted that there is no good Brexit. There can be no happy-ever-after ending to this story. We have argued from the start that special bespoke arrangements are needed for the North of Ireland. It was on that basis that we devised and presented as a solution the concept of designated special status for the North. We presented this solution at a time when the Taoiseach and his party told us it could not be done. Our MEPs, among others, worked hard to ensure that this position formed the basis of the EU's negotiating mandate. The components of the designated special status evolved into what would become the backstop.

Despite those days of Government rhetoric and naysaying, today all of us are defending the backstop to the hilt. The solution we proposed, involving special arrangements for the North, formed the nucleus around which a unified front on Brexit could be built among parties across the Dáil. If a deal is struck in the near future, the unified front in this House will have been of significant assistance in its delivery. I am very glad we are back in that unified space today. I was more than a little alarmed when the Taoiseach began thinking out loud about where customs posts might be located on our island. That would have been an entirely unacceptable situation. It would be extremely damaging to Ireland. I am very glad the Taoiseach has returned to first principles. Sinn Féin has always been of the view that a strong and firmly articulated position is needed in order to get Britain to take the Irish national interest seriously. This view is based on our long-standing experience of dealing with successive British Administrations. I believe that if a deal which protects Ireland's interests transpires - I hope it does - our analysis and our position will have been fully vindicated.

We are making these contributions at a juncture when a deal is still speculative. If a deal is announced, it will have to be scrutinised and examined. It is important to outline the key aspects of an agreement that would protect Ireland. When I spoke to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on Sunday, I told him that any deal which is agreed must have legal and enduring guarantees for this country. Protections cannot be time-limited. There certainly cannot be any bartering away of the guarantees contained in the backstop. I told him there can be no question of reimposing a hard border on Ireland. Our livelihoods, our economy and our peace must be protected. This means the Good Friday Agreement must be protected and championed to the very last letter. In my conversation with the British Prime Minister, I sought confirmation from him that no veto on protections for Ireland would be gifted to DUP Brexiteers. Such a position would be absolutely intolerable. It would be outrageous to place Irish livelihoods, our economy and our peace in the hands of a party that has acted in defiance of Ireland's interests and those of its own constituents. Such an outcome would be absolutely unthinkable. I reminded Mr. Johnson that there is no consent to Brexit in Ireland. It is important to restate that here today. People in the North voted to remain. That democratic fact and imperative cannot be ignored or reduced. I should remind the leader of Fianna Fáil that the assembly came down not least because of acts of corruption in the case of the renewable heat incentive scheme. I accept that he has a more permissive view of corruption than many of the rest of us in this House.

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