Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to this debate. I would agree with most of what I have heard. I particularly agree with my colleague, Deputy Richmond, when he spoke about the future being us working together, working with the British notwithstanding what will happen now.

We all agree absolutely - we are ad idem- that Brexit is a disaster for everybody, and especially for people on our island, North and South. What we need to work on is the relationship that will continue, North and South and east and west. As chairperson of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, I am anxious to make progress on improving relationships North and South. Indeed, in a recent meeting we had for the first time an MP from the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland, Dr. Stephen Farry, participate. We had, obviously, Sinn Féin and the SDLP. We need to get to the place where we can have unionists participating if they wish. We want them to come in. There is no sign of them coming right now. What we need to do is to find a mechanism for involving ourselves with them, both as parliamentarians and as citizens of the North and the South.

I very much welcome the note of confidence in the speech of the Taoiseach in Dublin Castle relating to the shared island unit when he announced a very significant investment of ring-fenced shared island projects of €500 million. That is hugely important in showing our goodwill here in the South to the people in the North, and particularly to people in the Border counties.

I welcome also the commitment from the Taoiseach to looking at new jobs for Border areas because they are most likely to suffer as a result of what will now happen with Brexit. All our politics must be based on reconciliation, tolerance and trust of each other, and building that up in a way that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been doing. That is the challenge for all of us.

At the end of the day, like other Members in this House, I am a united Irelander. I believe in a united Ireland. I believe in it by consent and I believe in showing the way by showing that we are generous and that we are prepared to work with people and respect them. It is not a united Ireland whether they like or not, as Sinn Féin Members said here tonight, but a united Ireland where we all agree that, whatever mechanism or what relationships we have, we move forward together and that each person's individual entitlement to and entity in his or her political beliefs is respected.

One of my concerns, and this is why we need to work together, is the question of our health and Covid-19. I am not quite sure what happened in Belfast today but there seems to be a significant difference between how they will deal in the North with opening up their economy. Some people want to relax it now and more want to dovetail in with what we are doing in the South. It is hugely important in terms of health policy, especially in terms of Covid, that we work together. Covid is rampant in Northern Ireland at present and I would hate to think that things would get worse rather than better up there. Nevertheless, we need to work together. I would like to see greater co-operation and greater progress made on the same regulations, North and South, if at all possible. That is not about politics. That is about health. It is about making people safe.

Obviously, I am also concerned at the implications that Brexit may have for following up criminals wherever they be on these islands and that we would continue to have appropriate, proper and fair due process extradition proceedings to bring criminals from one jurisdiction to the other one. I would hope that that will not suffer notwithstanding what will happen with Brexit. In the case of the international arrest warrant etc., we need to make sure that, whatever happens and however extreme the views might be in the United Kingdom about leaving the European Union, criminals will not get any succour or will not be able to hide in either jurisdiction.

One of the important projects in building up relationships, certainly in my constituency of Louth, is the Narrow Water Bridge proposal. I very much welcome the Taoiseach's commitment in his speech in Dublin Castle in which one of the three issues he raised as needing to be progressed further was the Narrow Water Bridge. That will obviously improve economic relationships, North and South. It will certainly make a huge difference for tourists and people who we want to flood to our shores shortly, please God, if and when we can defeat this Covid. The Narrow Water Bridge is a hugely important issue for my constituents which I very much support.

When one thinks of the relationship between Britain and Ireland over the centuries, among the most significant changes were obviously the Acts of Union 1800 which in many ways destroyed the economy, certainly that of Dublin. In the 1920s, the island split again with the division of our country. Then we had the Good Friday Agreement and now we have Brexit. Alongside all the issues and political developments that happened, we never managed to really reach an accommodation, particularly with unionists in the North. The most important point to emphasise in this debate is the opening up of all opportunities for involvement and participation, North and South.

I welcome the commitment on education. There are also very sensible things that could be done with health co-operation. With towns like Dundalk and Newry are right beside each other, can we reach new agreements on sharing health services? If we look at counties Derry and Donegal and at the hinterland of Derry, there is huge room for economic co-operation and new initiatives so that the Border, which has been invisible in recent years thanks to our joint membership of the European Union, will be the least visible border we can possibly have. That is really the only way to go and the future for us is together.

This Brexit legislation is traumatic for all of us but it is important that we, as European citizens, recognise that the EU has really stood behind us. People like Mr. Michel Barnier have faced challenges on our behalf. The firm, determined and resolute approach by the European Union has been most welcome in terms of our relationship with it. As we untangle the economic things that we must untangle as a result of Brexit and consider the very significant adverse economic impact it will have on us, I believe we can rely on Europe. Given the difficulties that may very well lie ahead, its goodwill is hugely important to us.

I pay tribute to our civil servants, particularly those in Brussels and in the Department of Foreign Affairs, who have worked might and main. Over the years, I have got to know a number of them personally and I seen their patriotism, commitment, expertise, knowledge and influence. They have done a fantastic job in making sure the views of citizens here, represented by our Parliament, are fully represented and understood in all parts of Europe. They did not, and they will not, walk away from us.

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to discuss this Bill tonight. I look forward with hope, notwithstanding the trouble that is coming in the form of economic problems and, unfortunately, significant job losses. However, by looking forward we, as a nation and a as Government, can show that with the shared island economic policy, we can bring people together. As I said, reconciliation, tolerance and trust must be the watchwords for all of us.

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