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

Europe has a history of civilisation, invention and innovation, but also a history of vicious colonial powers, wars and a balance of power that was maintained through threat of war and mass armaments. The EU project itself was born out of the end of a genocidal world war. The EU has played its part in changing the nature of relationships across Europe. It has played a vital role in the development of our own peace process. I must commend the solidarity shown to Ireland throughout the entirety of the Brexit negotiations and the ongoing difficulties.

There have obviously been difficulties regarding the vaccine roll-out, but the attempts at solidarity across the entire EU are to be commended, combined with improved operational oversight, involving the Commission and Commissioner Thierry Breton. We have raised with him previously the issue of global solidarity concerning the vaccine roll-out, but we have now seen the President of the United States, Joe Biden, support the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, agreement waiver. I accept there is a wider conversation regarding intellectual property rights. What we need, however, is a best-case fix to ensure a global health solution. We have all said this before: none of us is safe until all of us are safe.

The EU Commission has engaged in a substantial amount of work in dealing with pharmaceutical companies regarding partnership agreements to deliver increased amounts of vaccines. We must ensure this continues and that whatever needs to be done must be done to ensure maximum delivery for the entire globe and that costs are not prohibitive for those in the developing world. There would be no better sign of an EU working for its people and for all people. Many of us have stated in this Chamber the utter madness of Brexit, but this weekend we saw spectacular results in the Scottish elections from the perspective of people looking to achieve their independence within an EU framework. Our congratulations should go to Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish National Party, SNP.

Within this context, we must remember that the majority of people in the North voted to stay within the EU in respect of the Brexit debate. This Brexit debate has catapulted the conversation in respect of Irish unity on this island and in the EU. We have seen the chaos Brexit has brought. We must ensure we have the requisite conversations and do the necessary planning in that regard. I commend the work of many European politicians, including our own Chris MacManus, MEP, in ensuring when the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, TCA, deal was done that a resolution was added in respect of ensuring Northern representation. We must ensure that goes from just being nice words into a concrete result. We cannot have a democratic deficit for those who obviously will be impacted by the Irish protocol and by the rules of the EU. Therefore, they must have a voice, and we must ensure that happens. Europe has a major part to play in respect of connectivity, so we need the conversation to continue and we must ensure we are not wanting here in allowing for aviation connectivity, combined with ensuring that health measures are followed. I would like to think we would do the heavy lifting on antigen testing and anything else that may be required to free us from the situation we are in.

I commend the Ballymurphy families who got an element of justice today. It would be remiss of me not to say that we really need the European Union and the Irish Government to stand up for the rights of the Palestinian people who are being absolutely slaughtered by a war criminal-led Israeli Government that seems to operate as if it were a schoolyard bully that does not realise the disparity between itself and the Palestinians. Land has been annexed, families have been evicted and people have been oppressed for far too long. We must use our seat on the UN Security Council and we must also ensure that the Irish Government and the EU do their utmost. That is how apartheid was broken in South Africa.

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