Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to again congratulate President-elect Joe Biden on winning the US presidential election. I extend to him and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris my best wishes in meeting the challenges that will face the new administration.

The President-elect is a long-standing friend of Ireland and has remained unequivocal in his support for the upholding of the Good Friday Agreement. He has consistently taken the position that the US will not allow an international agreement that brought peace to Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit. This is a very important message that comes at a critical time for all of us. The President-elect restated his view that the reintroduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland cannot be countenanced as recently as last evening. He and both parties in Congress have made it clear that there will be no trade agreement with Britain unless the Good Friday Agreement is safeguarded in all of its parts. Like the Taoiseach, I look forward to working with the new President and his Administration to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is protected and its transformative potential fully realised.

I also hope that the new Administration will advance the cause of the undocumented Irish in America. While Brexit has dominated much of the public discourse in terms of Irish-US relations, it is important that we acknowledge the hope expressed by our fellow countrywomen and men living in the United States that their situation might finally be regularised in the years ahead.

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