Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While we might have been taken by surprise, I do not think Senator Norris can deduce from that that we are in the dark. We have a contingency. I acknowledge what Senators have said in commending the publication last Friday evening of part of our contingency planning. I ask Senators to keep in touch. I undertake to keep Members of the Seanad fully informed on our planning and the implementation of our plan. I acknowledge that over the last couple of hours almost a third of the Seanad has made a contribution. I have no doubt that this has brought some valuable thinking, in the context of yesterday's Dáil debate as well, as we set about the most important work for our country. It is a great challenge. I have no doubt that the scale of the challenge that lies ahead requires a collective cross-party determination to work together over the next few months and, indeed, years, to ensure that our national interests are very much at the heart of the upcoming EU negotiations. The determination of both Houses has been very much apparent this week, as it was during the referendum campaign, when Members across the Oireachtas played their part in ensuring that Irish people in Britain, and indeed in Northern Ireland, were fully informed of the debate.

The decision made last Thursday by a majority of the UK electorate undoubtedly will leave a lasting legacy. Its impact on the future of these islands will emerge over the coming months and years, but our task now is to ensure that we can help shape that legacy in a way that, above all, protects our interests. As I mentioned at the outset, the Taoiseach is currently in Brussels to begin the process in the European Council, providing the first opportunity to underline through all our EU partners our unique interests and concerns, and to make clear our national position following the events of last Friday. It is the European Council, under the leadership of Donald Tusk, not any other EU institution or subgroup, that has overall political control of the process of negotiations to come.

Ireland's starting point is straightforward: a stable, prosperous and outward-looking United Kingdom is clearly in our interests and those of the European Union as a whole. The closer the UK is to the European Union, the better it is for all of us and, above all, for Ireland. In the European Union, Ireland will argue that the negotiations should be conducted in a positive and constructive frame, but this will also depend on the approach of the United Kingdom. The Taoiseach will encourage the next British Prime Minister to set realistic and achievable objectives, while noting that it is in nobody's interests for the United Kingdom and the European Union to have anything but the best possible and positive future relations.

It is only a matter of days and it is probably true to say that the dust has not yet settled as the rubble of the earthquake is sifted through, but so far a form of consensus has already emerged around a number of key points. First, Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty is the only legal framework that can be pursued. Second, it must be triggered explicitly by the United Kingdom. Third, no negotiations can take place until this has happened. Fourth, negotiations should begin as soon as possible, but some time is required for the political situation in the UK to settle down, and a new Prime Minister must be in place. Fifth, the process will be led by European Heads of State and Government. Over the next couple of days a strong message of unity at the meeting of the EU 27 will be hugely important. Ireland, for both practical and strategic reasons, will support that view.

I acknowledge what Senators have said. I have taken notes. I very much value Senators' contributions and I have no doubt that we will have further opportunity to engage. I am very encouraged to hear that Senators and Deputies are willing to use their influence through party affiliations across Europe to ensure that our position is understood clearly. I acknowledge the contribution of Senator Ó Ríordáin. He is right: it is important that the debate should be framed around more than just issues of economy and trade. Indeed, their are four pillars to Ireland's position over the coming period. The first is our economy. The second is Northern Ireland, the peace process and British-Irish relations. The third is the common travel area and our shared land Border. In this regard, I was very struck by points made by Senator Craughwell and others. The fourth is the role of the UK in Europe and its strategic value to Ireland in that context. On Friday we published the outline of the contingency framework prepared on a whole-of-government basis, within which key strategic and sectoral issues that could arise for us if the UK were to vote to leave the EU were elucidated and prepared for. I will have a copy sent to Senator Norris.