Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a 32 county island. This is saying there is enough that divides us. We can have areas of co-operation, which has continued since the 1960s. That is what the court stated. It stated it was good. It stated it was an appropriate area in which to have co-operation, as envisaged under the Good Friday Agreement. Taking Senator Norris's Southern Unionist partitionist approach is baffling in this context. If his amendment is carried, it will be the death knell for the voisinagearrangements which might be considered good in some quarters. I passionately believe we should have good relationships with our colleagues in Northern Ireland, that we should continue the reciprocal arrangement and that, arising from the Supreme Court's judgment of 27 October, we should give the arrangements a legal framework.It is not breaking new ground. As I said, this is something that has existed since the 1960s. It ran into a High Court challenge and a Supreme Court challenge, where it was ruled on. Elements of this case are still ongoing so I am constrained in certain respects. In respect of this issue, I am not constrained. It does not have the legal framework. It is a good thing. My response and the Government's response is that we should, as a gesture of goodwill, reinstate the fishing opportunity that is reciprocated for our boats that currently go to Northern Ireland to fish. Those are simply the facts of the matter.

The point has been raised about boats owned and operated, etc. Back in the 1960s, perhaps the world was a simpler place. A man owned his boat and fished in his lough or whatever. The world has moved on quite significantly. The Supreme Court acknowledged that it is a different world in its judgment. There are many corporate bodies. Corporates in the fishing world sue me on a regular basis. They are not all Dutch corporates or UK corporates.