Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome much of what has been said. I believe we should make it our business to have a conversation with the Spanish Government around the disgraceful treatment of the Catalonians and Catalonian politicians.

I welcome what the previous speaker said regarding illegal land grabs and occupations in Western Sahara and in Palestine. At every opportunity we call on the Government to do the utmost on that because some of these situations we are entering into are far worse than we could have ever conceived years ago. Many of these cases are a tragedy.

A major issue for us at this point in time is Brexit. I attended the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs earlier. The focus from a governmental point of view needs to be on delivery and the possibility that the EU and the British Government can come up with some sort of solution, be that a trade deal or absolute clarity around the Irish protocol and the withdrawal agreement.

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We may all believe or guess that Mr. Boris Johnson and company are only employing a negotiating gambit but it is incredibly frightening that they are willing to breach international law. It is feared their Internal Markets Bill and possibly their Finance Bill will be used to circumvent an existing agreement. We absolutely welcome the European Commission's legal action against the absolutely illegal action of the British Government. People claim this is shocking but, from a republican perspective, British bad faith is something one gets used to and that has to be dealt with. Lately, we have all seen on television shows, particularly "Unquiet Graves", the reality of what British rule in Ireland has been. The reality is that there have been death squads.

We believed that, with the withdrawal agreement and Irish protocol, we had mitigated the worst aspects of Brexit. Now, however, we have no clarity on that. I accept that, at this point, we seem to have international solidarity. The Tánaiste stated the European Union has stood firm on the Irish protocol, Irish requirements, the reality of what we deal with and our history. His view is that the worst-case scenario is that Britain is not employing a negotiating gambit and is incredibly serious and willing to circumvent the rules and regulations, thus having an impact on the lives of people, particularly in Border locations such as Dundalk. His view is that the European Union will stand firm. We welcome the solidarity shown by the European Union and politicians in America. We need to ensure this is maintained. There is an absolute requirement on the Government to ensure this is delivered upon.

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