Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh Chéad Aire na hAlban, Ms Nicola Sturgeon, go dtí an Seanad inniu. It is a great honour to welcome her to Ireland and this House on behalf of the Sinn Féin party. We welcome her as the leader of a nation with whom the Irish enjoy a long and enduring affinity as close neighbours and good friends. We share a strong Gaelic heritage, language and Celtic culture, of which we are both rightly proud.

The historic bond between the two nations has been catalogued. It was spoken about by the Cathaoirleach and the First Minister. Scotland gave us two iconic revolutionaries of the Easter Rising of 1916 in James Connolly and Margaret Skinnider, who in no small way, along with others, shaped Ireland over the past century in our struggle for national independence.

In 1937, the Kirkintilloch tragedy affected Achill Island in my community in County Mayo. Ten people from the island lost their lives in the tragedy. Scotland made a great contribution when people from the west of Ireland, including the community I came from, travelled to Scotland to participate in potato harvesting. Many families in the west were dependent on money coming from Scotland. We make every effort possible to keep up those ties on a community level. The First Minister would be very welcome to County Mayo, including Achill Island, to see this for herself.

Today, the First Minister's visit is about the future and how our nations will strengthen the bond that ties us politically, culturally and economically. The island of Ireland and Scotland have held membership status of the EEC and the EU since 1973. Throughout this 40-year period, we have become progressively integrated into the European Union and the Single Market. Sinn Féin has a long-standing policy of critical engagement with the EU. We support measures that are in Ireland's interest and oppose and campaign for progressive reform in respect of those that are bad for Ireland. There is absolutely no denying, however, that the unilateral decision being taken at this time by the British Government to withdraw from membership of the Union and to drag Scotland and the North of Ireland with it, without our consent, is disastrous and profoundly undemocratic. I welcome the First Minister's statement that she will support unequivocally the open Border.

The British Government is on a collision course with the EU in which our stability and economic progress are regarded as collateral damage. On 23 June, 62% of voters in Scotland and 56% in Northern Ireland democratically expressed their wish to remain within the European Union. For our part in Sinn Féin, we are strongly opposed to the North being forced out of the EU and believe that, as part of the Brexit negotiations, it is essential that we argue the case for designated special status for the North within the European Union. We believe it is in our interest to find common cause with regions, such as Scotland, which share our objective to remain and to work together and argue our case in forthcoming negotiations on Brexit.

The British Government is indicating that it intends to repeal the European Communities Act, leaving all EU legislation on the statute books so Westminster can pick it apart and decide what is to be retained, amended or repealed. This would have very serious consequences for the devolved regions since the legislative competence is underpinned by the Scotland Act and the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which means that no law can be incompatible with any of the conventions on rights or be incompatible with European Community law.Today Ireland, like Scotland, is a confident region in transition. The Good Friday Agreement, which received overwhelming endorsement in referenda held North and South, represents the institutional, constitutional and legal framework that defines the new relationships that now exist within and between Ireland and Britain.

The Agreement also enshrines the right of the Irish people alone to exercise their right to self-determination and to a united Ireland through consent by referendum North and South. Sinn Féin believes that Brexit and the insistence of the British Government to drag the North of Ireland out of the EU with it, severely undermines the institutional, constitutional and legal integrity and status of the Good Friday Agreement, an international treaty of which the Irish Government is a co-guarantor. The people of Ireland reasonably expect it to safeguard and defend all of its parts, as otherwise we risk unravelling the peace and progress of the past 20 years.

We are in uncharted territory since no member state has previously left the EU. However, given that there is already recognition at EU level of the special circumstances that pertain on the island of Ireland, it is entirely rational to argue for the North to be designated as special status within the EU. The political stability, economic prosperity, trade relationships and jobs of the entire island of Ireland must be protected and enhanced together. Ireland must also support Scotland's democratic right to retain its natural position within the EU through a differentiated relationship with the EU.

I commend the Scottish First Minister's leadership in standing up for Scotland's national interest in this regard.