Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for outlining the immediate problems in terms of the discussions in the North. We all welcome the extension of time given by the Secretary of State to seek a resolution. Often, the immediate problems mean that time cannot be given to the long-term and legacy issues which, as the Minister pointed out, continue to dog Northern Ireland and its politics. As outlined by the Minister, the Irish language Act is one of those issues that have not been resolved despite previous agreements. Even what we would term the simple issue of the civic forum cannot be resolved. It is 18 years since the Good Friday Agreement and it has been a long and torturous process.

There has also been the search for truth for the victims of violence. This is an ongoing concern for families and ongoing trouble for the entire process. Getting the documents required to ensure that the truth comes out seems to be an amazingly difficult process for the British Government to engage in. It has the documents but is not willing to give them over. The largest mass murder in the history of the State was the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and there are concerns about collusion and the British security forces being involved in it. If I was accused, as that Government is being accused, of being involved in any way, I would give every document going and say I had nothing to hide. That is one of many different acts of violence that were perpetrated in Northern Ireland and on these islands and the truth simply has not come out because the documents are not being revealed. National security is being cited as an issue but I cannot imagine how Britain's national security could be threatened by the release of documents that would give families the truth.

The Minister pointed out the ongoing Brexit issue. The common travel area was discussed in this Chamber last Thursday when the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality attended. Following lengthy consultation, he is of the view that there is no necessity for immigration officials to be on the southern side of the Border. The EU has no desire for it and there is no legal reason to have it in place. Whether there will be checks of people going across the Border is at the will of the British Government. As I have previously pointed out to my colleagues, there are already immigration officers at Derry, Belfast and Larne. Operation Gull has been in operation for more than three years and 792 people trying to get into Britain through Derry, Belfast or Larne were stopped and arrested in one calendar year alone. There is no necessity for people to be checked going over and back across the Border for work, but it is for the British to choose to do so. It is at their will. An inconvenience would be a very nice way of putting it, but it would be an unnecessary imposition on those living on either side of the Border.

The issue of trade is an entirely different problem. We have obligations under EU treaties to ensure that the European markets have the proper trade agreements and processes in place with the UK post Brexit. It is interesting that East Germany was treated by the European Communities as if it were in the communities long before the wall came down. West Germany and East Germany were able to trade with each other. East Germany was able to send goods into West Germany and on throughout the European Communities. European laws did not apply. This comes back to the point of the special case that we are making for Northern Ireland. The case made by West Germany for East Germany for decades is a precedent for inter-trade between the North and the South of Ireland. It is also a precedent in terms of citizenship. East German citizens were treated by the European Communities as if they were West German citizens. The same case applies to citizens living in northern Cyprus who are treated as if they are EU citizens even though northern Cyprus is practically and actually not within the control of the Cypriot Government. This is of relevance to us because the Good Friday Agreement provides that those living in Northern Ireland are entitled to be British citizens, Irish citizens or both.

The Dáil passed a motion on a special status for Northern Ireland and we need to seek that special status. There are many precedents for special status including that of Cyprus and its citizens and that of East German citizens prior to the wall coming down. We need to ensure that it is also the case here. There is also the curious case of how the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey Islands, which are in the UK, are not in the European Union. There are loads of precedents that have been set by other European countries on which we can draw and which will allow us to make a special case for Northern Ireland and its citizens.

Time and time again the Taoiseach and the Minister have raised the ongoing issue of the EU preparing for a united Ireland. This issue made the front page of the Irish Independentwhen the Taoiseach first broached it at the McGill summer school in County Donegal last year and he has raised it at many meetings of Heads of Government since. The issue comes under Article 227. It is not an accession process and the approval of the EU is not necessary as it is an extension of national territory. This has only happened on three occasions in the history of the European Union. One time involved Saarland between France and Germany and another related to an island off Canada which was a French colony that was brought in as forming part of French national territory without an accession process. The final one, which we all know, relates to East Germany, which was brought in as part of West Germany without any necessity for the approval of the European Communities. The European Communities were simply informed that this had happened. This is one of the issues that we have to address as part of the overall agreement but the precedents that have been set, most especially that set by Germany, allow Ireland to make a special case for Northern Ireland in the long term.In the immediate term, the issue of trying to get the parties around the table in Northern Ireland and the Assembly and Executive up and going is something that will take a huge effort, not only from the Irish Government and the British Government, but also from the US Government, which I believe has to be brought back into play for the important role that it has had all along in this process.