Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Now that we are all opening our hearts, I will make one or two brief comments. This is an interesting debate. I was always in favour of amending Articles 2 and 3 because I believed they were illegitimate. I have always accepted that there have been two states on the island of Ireland since the historic agreement in 1921. The reality is that whatever one thought of Articles 2 and 3 at the time, they were, for many people in Northern Ireland, an illegitimate claim on the sovereign territory of Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom. I hope I am quoting him correctly when I say that Senator Walsh said the British have no right to be in Northern Ireland.