John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is quite obvious that the glaring issue from an Irish perspective in the coming meeting of the European Council is that of Brexit. The illegal, irresponsible and intemperate approach taken by the Johnson Government from the very outset has placed obstacle after obstacle in the way of an agreement. It has set out to dupe its own workers to support its machinations under a chorus of nationalistic jingoism. The domestic success of the Tories in morphing the issue of the level playing field into one of sovereignty has been such that they have been able to lead their own citizens down a pathway that leads to nothing but the erosion of their rights as workers, the unregulated destruction of the environment and the removal of safeguards designed to protect the health and well-being of citizens. That is shameful enough, but they have given themselves licence to erect the architecture of their exploitation around Scotland and a sizeable section of our country to enforce the Tory writ against the democratic wishes of the people who reside there.

Having set in place the means to erode the social contract across the span of their reach, they are seeking to hold the shared fishing stock of these two islands to ransom, a ransom the price of which will mean a serious and potentially disastrous blow to the fishing industry in Ireland or, alternatively, unfair, unfettered and unaccountable trading access to Europe's markets for Britain. Reports that the EU Brexit negotiation team has offered to hand back between 15% and 18% of the value of fish caught by EU-registered vessels in British waters to the British must be met with alarm. There is no amount of money from Europe that could compensate for the loss of an industry that is a staple of communities along the whole coastline of our island nation. Ireland needs access to fisheries to be maintained as it currently stands, full stop. More than 60% of mackerel caught by the Irish fleet is taken in British waters. The EU must force home the point to the British that the disputed fishing stock is, in effect, a stock that is shared between Ireland and Britain. The fish spawn in Irish waters and then head north into British waters to be trawled by the fishing fleets of Europe and Britain. Ireland simply cannot allow such a valuable natural resource of this island to be taken from us by the grasping hand of English nationalism.

Regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, there is little doubt that Ireland will face unprecedented challenges in the aftermath of Brexit. The EU has previously recognised this and put in place the Brexit adjustment reserve fund to help those states most impacted by Brexit, with the general acknowledgement that Ireland would be the worst-affected of all EU states. I am, therefore, very concerned at reports that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, is intent on securing the lion's share of this fund, apparently to compensate French fisherman but, more realistically, to fund a re-election bid. Ireland's post-Brexit challenges are compounded by the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic. The €1.8 trillion recovery fund proposed by the EU to address the impact of Covid will see Ireland become a net contributor to the fund. The Government cannot and must not allow Ireland to be forced to relinquish its right to the majority share of the Brexit fund to satisfy the internal political considerations of any individual EU member state.

This morning, Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator, told EU ambassadors that if the UK finance Bill which is expected next week, breaches the Irish protocol, that is, international law, then Brexit talks will be in crisis and there will be a breakdown in trust.

I should say there will be a further breakdown in trust. I do not trust the British Government at the best of times and least of all on this issue of the finance Bill it is bringing forward. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the recovery fund will be crucial in helping Ireland to withstand the economic and social impact that will come from Brexit.

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