Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I suppose we have been talking ad nauseamabout Brexit for nearly five years. It came as a huge shock to people in the UK, as well as in this country and around Europe. When the people voted in the United Kingdom for Brexit, it was a sovereign decision of the United Kingdom. The then Government was anxious that we could influence Irish citizens who were voting there that it was in our best interests for the United Kingdom to stay. Unfortunately, due to various promises and miscalculations, as well as misinformation, the people voted but that was their decision. It has a knock-on effect that we must mitigate against. I wish that the United Kingdom would stay in the EU and perhaps that can happen. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and all the officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the work they have done to try to mitigate those issues.

I remember the first time we in the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly were asked what we thought of Brexit. I always said that we looked on Brexit as the British accidentally shooting themselves in our foot and that is exactly what is happening. It has a knock-on effect on this country.

I note the ardent Brexiteer Nigel Farage is leaving the talk show on LBC with immediate effect. He has been three years on LBC. He has been working there five days a week, talking about the Brexit position. It reminds me of the live prank of a man named Mark, who phoned in to the Nigel Farage show and said he was an ardent remainer, he believed in the European project and believed that staying in the European Union was best for the UK. Then something monumental happened. Nodding, Mr. Farage asked Mark what happened and Mark responded. He said, "I was kicked in the head by a horse."

That is, effectively, what has happened to our country. We are suffering from concussion, having been effectively kicked in the head by a horse. It is not so funny for Ireland, however, because we have to deal with the implications. The Good Friday Agreement was not even talked about in the referendum campaign and now the island of Ireland is coming back under discussion. The island and the Good Friday Agreement were not discussed, and now the issues of the island of Ireland and the Border are coming back to haunt us.

I am conscious of the Minister of State's time and the energy she has put in. What are her views on what is happening now or will happen in the coming weeks and months?

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