Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important and time-pressured matter. We know that it is just short of 50 days until the transition period comes to an end on 31 December. We also know the past two years have been painful as our nation has watched the Brexit madness and drama unfold. Our people have suffered from great uncertainty and anxiety, particularly this year. We know this was to be expected when faced with a global health pandemic. However, our people have further suffered from the threat of Brexit and what that will mean for them and for their families, businesses and futures. This threat is hanging over them like a dark cloud.

The tactics that have been employed by Boris Johnson can only be described as poker moves, with his UK Internal Market Bill or when he well and truly threw the spanner in the works and tried to rock the boat on the hugely important international treaty that is respected all over the world, namely, the Good Friday Agreement. It was an astonishing and shocking move but one that the Government needs to be mindful of in making decisions going forward. That is why I would like to add that I am devastated to learn that the Minister of State wants to push out the referendum on Irish unity. If anything, this sequence of events since its inception, coupled with the experience of Covid-19, clearly demonstrate that there has to be a clear pathway to a united Ireland and a new Ireland that can never be left open to these vulnerabilities again.

I want to focus on the assurances that are needed for my county, Clare. There is no better time to focus on this since we are coming up to Christmas and there is talk of food shortages. All in all, there is need for assurances for: our farmers in Clare, who have just under 6,500 farms; for fisheries, as we are all aware that fish know no borders or division; the tourism, retail and business sectors, which have endured great difficulties before Covid-19 and which we know have been brought to their knees in recent months due to Covid-19; the students who require support and who are already in third level courses in the UK; the cross-Border workforce of 30,000 people; and our airports.

I want to specifically focus on Shannon Airport, which depends on its connectivity to the UK. We know that Shannon Airport acts as a vital gateway for tourism and business coming into County Clare. It is important that this airport is supported, not partially or nearly but fully, in order to ensure that it can function when we reach the other side of this pandemic. It needs guarantees, certainties, preparations and a solid plan as they are the ingredients required to provide a healthy and balanced future.

This a job of work to be done and it must be done together. We must ensure we apply the necessary pressure on London to get the best outcome for us. I have no doubt that we will have support from Washington and Brussels. I reiterate my colleagues' earlier comments that we will support the Government in achieving that end. I look forward to this Bill being debated in full on Committee Stage.

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