Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the comments and position adopted by the Deputy in respect of this issue. That is important, and it is important that at European Union level that all of our respective groupings within the European Parliament are apprised of this and briefed on the up-to-date position and on the feeling on the ground in Northern Ireland in respect of the operation of the protocol for the vast majority of businesses and how advantageous it is for key sectors of the Northern Ireland economy, in particular on the FDI side. There has been an improvement in FDI into Northern Ireland because of the protocol.

There is no doubt that the EU stands ready to do the right thing by the people of Northern Ireland; I want to make that very clear. What concerns me is the denial of democracy, as I would describe it. I have been very consistent over the past decade that the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement should always be respected. The Assembly should never have been taken down. The Assembly should always be formed immediately after an election because the people have spoken. I find it very difficult to comprehend a situation in a democratic world whereby if the people have voted through the ballot box, their elected representatives are not facilitated in meeting to discuss the cost -of-living and bread-and-butter issues that affect their daily lives. That is not good enough. That is what I mean by the destabilisation of politics that is afoot.

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