Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I wish to share time with Senator Mullen. I welcome the Minister and I welcome his words. I regard myself as the only northern representative here. My mother came from County Armagh, my father came from County Down, they met in Dun Laoghaire and I was born in Dublin. Those who live far from the Border think of the North as a different country. I will exclude the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, from this. On one occasion I went shopping for a wedding present in Dublin with a Limerick person. I suggested getting some Irish linen but she said that this was from the North and suggested buying some of our own. She has suffered for this remark ever since every time I remind her of what she said. I say this because someone referred to those leaving this country to shop up North. It was a slip of the tongue but we become partitionist the further away from the North we live and the more we regard shopping in Newry as being disloyal to the country. I regard Newry and Dundalk as being in the same country. We must ensure we solve the problem by reducing our costs, getting the economy right and watching how we handle the matter, not by systems under which we regard shopping in the North as something of which we should be ashamed.

On another occasion here I mentioned being in Dundalk when a shop in which I was involved was closing. I asked some of the butchers there where they were going to get work and they said they did not know. I stated they could go across the Border, to which they replied their pay was one third of what they could earn there. This is a reminder of how much higher our costs are than in the North, which explains to a very large extent why Northern prices are so much lower than here. Earlier today Senator Mullen stated the Society of St. Vincent de Paul had stated we had the second highest food prices in Europe. We must become more competitive as that is how we will solve the problem.

Some take for granted the peace and stability achieved in the North. However, they are very fragile. Recently I read that the man thought to be the UDA brigadier in north Antrim and Derry had admitted that the dissident republican killings at Massereene barracks and the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll, to which Senator Cummins referred, had placed considerable strain on the loyalist organisations' ceasefire. Another leading loyalist from north Antrim stated the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness's statement that the murderers were traitors to the island of Ireland had helped to stop an escalation of the violence. Let us remember that violence is never far away and that even in our economic circumstances we should do our utmost to support peace in the North. The Minister has done so today by reminding us of the work taking place.

I was also reminded of the Patten commission and what it did. Senator Cassidy spoke about the various former Northern Members of the House, one of whom was Maurice Hayes who worked with the Patten commission which established the Police Service of Northern Ireland. What a change has taken place. The viewpoint of both communities was that the RUC was a sectarian force. Now, they look on the PSNI as something they are much more likely to recognise as a fair, moderate and even-handed police force.

I would love if we in the South and Northern Ireland could be encouraged to join the Schengen travel arrangements. It would not be easy for us to do so on our own but the benefits would be large. It appears that one needs, if not a passport, then photo identification to travel from Northern Ireland to the island of Britain. On that basis, it seems it would be quite easy for Northern Ireland and us in the South to work together to join the Schengen travel arrangements and give both sides the benefit of being able to travel throughout Europe without needing a passport in going from one country to another. I urge the Minister to consider putting this matter on the agenda and see whether we can coax Northern Ireland to do the same.