Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The foundation stone of any agreement and of the conduct of negotiations rests on mutual trust. No one party to any agreement can unilaterally undermine or deviate from it. I have been very clear about that in statements I made this morning at a press conference on Brexit readiness for the entire country. The unilateral nature of this decision by the British Government does undermine trust. The withdrawal agreement is an international treaty and it is binding. Ireland is with the European Union on this. As far as we are concerned, the withdrawal agreement and the protocol is the legal position and remains the legal position. It is what has been agreed to and will not be resiled from.

Last evening, I spoke to the President of the European Commission, Dr. von der Leyen, and we agreed that this was a very serious development. There was no prior notification to the Irish Government at any level as to this decision or measure. There was no heads-up. Whatever issues the Government of the United Kingdom has with regard to the implementation or working through of the protocol should be dealt with in the negotiations which are to commence this week. That is why the joint committee and the specialised committee were established under the withdrawal agreement.

What the secretary of state announced yesterday in very crude terms represents a very new departure in the conduct of international relations and the conduct of relationships between governments. The European Union is very concerned about this, as am I. As I announced this morning, I will be speaking to the British Prime Minister today, primarily to register our position and not to become embroiled in some exercise in which the British Government is becoming involved. We have to be extremely clear and firm with regard to where we stand as a country in respect of the withdrawal agreement and protocol, as we intend to be. We have to register with the British Prime Minister our complete opposition to the decision that has been taken - I will do that - and also the modus operandiand the manner in which the decision was taken and the lack of any prior consultation or engagement. I have been involved in negotiations with UK governments before and was involved in negotiations with the European Union with regard to the Lisbon treaty and so on. Proper negotiations are conducted on the basis of no surprises and on the basis of proper engagement in advance utilising various channels to try to get to an agreement. That did not happen in this case.

The additional point I want to make is that to drag Northern Ireland back into the centre stage is very divisive. It is extremely regrettable in the sense that there was an acceptance of the protocol and the withdrawal agreement. I do not want to put words into anyone's mouth but irrespective of people's stances on Brexit, people have accepted the de facto reality of the protocol and of the withdrawal agreement and were getting on with it in terms of using the mechanisms of the withdrawal agreement to deal with issues. As such, the Government is unequivocal on this and is very clear-minded in our response to the British initiative.

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