Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are not sure whether another Brexit deal will be debated at tomorrow's European Council meeting. It has been another long week of speculation and uncertainty as we rapidly approach the 31 October deadline. According to the latest news reports, the DUP is holding up the process again. Throughout this process, the DUP has acted against the social and economic interests of people of the North, most of whom voted to remain in the EU. The entire Brexit process has strained the Good Friday Agreement. The British Government has abandoned all pretence of acting with the impartiality required by the Good Friday Agreement.

We know the Brexit process will not end on 31 October next. It will continue for many years, and perhaps for a decade. It is of fundamental importance that the Irish Government stands up for the Agreement and for Irish interests. The Taoiseach once stated that Irish citizens in the North would never again be left behind by the Government. I suppose that assertion rings hollow following the outcome of the DeSouza case, which has significant ramifications for the rights of Irish citizens.

As Brexit approaches, there are concerns that the British Government is continuing to undermine the Good Friday Agreement. It is not acceptable that it is failing to live up to new and existing commitments. There can be no hardening of the Border and no weakening of the Good Friday Agreement in any Brexit deal. Partition has failed the vast majority of people on the island of Ireland. Most people are opposed to the artificial divisions that exist in our country. It does not matter whether these barriers are visible or invisible. An increasing number of people on this island believe Irish unity is the democratic alternative to the unwanted Brexit that is being foisted on citizens here.

As we speak, Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile is hosting a briefing in the audiovisual room with Irish academics who have produced an independent legal and academic report on the need for the EU to plan and prepare for constitutional change in Ireland. I believe this timely report is the first of its kind. It elaborates on the positive and proactive role the EU can play in the transition towards a united Ireland. It highlights the assistance the EU provided in the case of the reunification of Germany. It refers to the crucial importance of the Good Friday Agreement and the implications of Brexit for Ireland's membership of the EU. I urge the Taoiseach to get a copy of the report. If he likes, I can give him a copy after the debate. Maybe he will read it on the way to the European Council meeting and bring some of its ideas to the attention of his counterparts at that meeting.

Brexit is not the only issue that will be discussed at the European Council meeting. I would particularly like the Taoiseach to raise the case of nine Catalan political and civic society leaders who have been sentenced to between nine and 13 years in prison for their alleged role in organising a democratic vote on self-determination. I attended the trial in question, which was somewhat farcical given that the president of the court is against the constitution. His supposed role in the court was to uphold the Spanish constitution. The court's decision is a crude attempt to criminalise the Catalan independence movement, which is a legitimate political movement. I urge the Taoiseach to call for dialogue between the Spanish and Catalan authorities rather than more repression.

Other Deputies have referred to the invasion of Syria by Turkey after the US military abandoned the Kurds in the region. I urge the Government to stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people. The Taoiseach should look for something positive from his meeting with our European colleagues. Sanctions could be considered.

Clearly, we need to ban weapons exports to Turkey but we also need to isolate the Turkish regime over its actions against the Kurdish people and others in Syria.

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