Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

Without any pretence at being disorderly, I thank Senators for facilitating the passage of the Bill and debating it so thoroughly and scrupulously. I also thank Senator Brian Hayes for his party's amendments. I tend to agree with Senator Mansergh, rather than Senator Brian Hayes, on the legitimacy or illegitimacy of Articles 2 and 3, which, like Senator Mansergh, I regard as having been put in place to put in contest the status of Northern Ireland, rather than to make a serious grab at Northern Ireland. The terms of the articles are now immeasurably better than previously because they reflect what I, as a republican, believe to be the reality of the position.

One must also remember that as a matter of international law, Northern Ireland is not the same as Scotland, Wales or anywhere else, but a portion of this island, the status of which is determined by its people alone. This is significantly different even from Scotland and other areas to which Westminster power has been devolved on the island of Britain. From that point of view, this change has not been given away for nothing, but is a concession or compromise on the part of the United Kingdom of enormous significance. It is not simply a matter of a choice as to the status of Northern Ireland taken one afternoon in Westminster. Instead, it is a matter of international law laid down in a treaty now registered with the United Nations that the future of Northern Ireland is decided by a majority of its people, a crucial change of which one should never lose sight.