Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

It is incredible that an Opposition group is getting to speak after 20 Government Deputies have spoken. The latter have access to their Ministers at their parliamentary party meetings, yet we are pushed so far back in these discussions.

An trí rud is dainséaraí amuigh: éadan tairbh, deireadh staile, focail Shasanaigh. The three most dangerous things in life are the front of a bull, the back of a stallion and the words of an Englishman, according to the old Irish saying. I do not want to impugn the words of every Englishman. English people, like all peoples across the world, are largely decent. However, the word of the British Government has been, to Ireland's massive misfortune, meaningless and worthless. The reneging of the British Government in this case is not an outlier. In fact, it has been a deeply ingrained characteristic of British foreign policy towards Ireland for hundreds of years.

The instinct of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments in international relations has always been to be soft and gentle. That may be fine with many of our international colleagues but it is incorrect as a response to the British given all we know of Britain's inability to adhere to its agreements and commitments. The Government's response is feeble and weak. Plenty of words have been spoken but the cost to this country of the reneging by the British has not been communicated in strong enough terms to the British Government. Where is the pressure on the British Government with regard to Tory brinkmanship and lawlessness? The Good Friday Agreement is an international agreement. Surely breaking or damaging that agreement should have significant international consequences and sanctions. I do not mean trade sanctions but some level of diplomatic and political sanctions against Britain for its approach on this. It is time for the Irish Government to flex its diplomatic and international muscles.

We hear a new British ambassador is coming to Ireland. Has he been summoned to Government Buildings to discuss the anger here over the British Government's actions? Previous speakers referred to the goodwill that exists in the United States. The US special envoy has warned against a hard border but has the Irish Government spoken directly to the US special envoy? The US Secretary of State previously lauded the vitality of the Good Friday Agreement but where is the pressure on the US Secretary of State? This is an election year, which gives this country an opportunity to leverage Irish America. Why has the Taoiseach not spoken to the US President about ensuring that any future US trade agreement with Britain is contingent on the Good Friday Agreement being protected? Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Congressmen Peter King, Brendan Boyle and Richard Neal have all sounded the alarm written to the Tory Government on that issue.

However, where is the pressure on the rest of the international community to ensure that it stands up for the rule of international law in this regard?

The actions of the Tory Government show in flashing neon lights the fact that it continues to exert influence on the future of this country. Is it not incredible that, 104 years after the 1916 Rising, our ability to travel, do business and trade in the Thirty-two Counties is directly influenced by the Tory Party, a party that knows nothing about this country and does not care about this country whatsoever? I believe strongly that the idea of Irish self-determination is as important now as it was in 1916, but the people of the North of Ireland self-determined in favour of the Good Friday Agreement. They self-determined in favour of remaining within the EU. The Tories took that decision and threw it in the waste paper basket. Are we going to stand idly by and let that happen?

I believe that the Minister has a natural instinct towards the logic of full Irish self-determination, independence and unity. I would say that the Minister also has an instinct of cautiousness. I understand that it is logical to take a cautious approach to this particular issue, but cautiousness towards Irish unity must have a limit. There must be some logical point at which the political chaos created by the Tories in our country actually triggers some response by our elected politicians to start to work towards Irish unity. I am still shocked that the Taoiseach has resiled from that great traditional objective of generations in Fianna Fáil of Irish unity, but the rest of the Government should not do likewise. In light of what the Tories are doing and as some type of sanction on that, I call on the Government to open talks on a new all-Ireland forum where civic and political sections of society throughout the Thirty-two Counties can sit down together and start to discuss how to ameliorate the worst aspects of Brexit and work towards unity. It is really important that we not let this situation continue. The Tories in London continue to affect negatively our ability to run this country. It was not good enough in 1916 and it certainly is not good enough now.

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