Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the motion of absolute and full confidence in the Minister, Deputy Coveney, continuing as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence at this crucial time for our State and the European Union. Like a number of others in this House, I have been fortunate over the past four years to work extremely closely with the Minister as this State faced one of the gravest challenges of a generation, the threat of Brexit, the threat of a return of a hard border and the devastation of so many vital industries. Throughout that period, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, stood up, stood particularly tall and defended the interests of Ireland and its people North and South.

That is not just my opinion as an observer or someone who is in the room but the opinion that has been stressed countless times by the same people who read absolute nonsense from prepared scripts tonight. They are the same people who thanked Simon Coveney for standing by the tenets of the Good Friday Agreement and thanked him for protecting the rights of Irish citizens in the North. They are the people who thanked Simon Coveney for his patience in the face of absolute adversity from politicians in the North of this country and across the water. They thanked him and lauded him in this Chamber, the Seanad, committee rooms and closed conversations across the island and Continent. They now stand up, as political opportunists, to take a swipe and bring a good man down. Deputy Gary Gannon admirably tried to depersonalise the argument but a motion of confidence in an individual Minister is personal. Now we face those challenges again with politics in Northern Ireland in flux and the British Government reneging on commitments in the protocol. Today, the British Government has appointed its fourth Foreign Secretary in the time that Simon Coveney has been Minister for Foreign Affairs. This is the time that this Government and country need Simon Coveney. This is not the time for the duplicity, contradictions and sneering from those opposite. If they had their way, they would have pulled down the institutions and this State many times over.

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