John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am deputising for Senator Joe O'Reilly. I had not intended to speak but I am glad to contribute briefly to the debate and to signal the opportunities and challenges posed by our relationships in Europe and with our colleagues throughout the world. I will not go into the detail of individual issues that have been raised here but whatever criticisms there may be of Irish participation, either in Europe or beyond, it is very important that as an island nation we cannot be self-sufficient or follow an isolationist economic policy.

There are not many positives in terms of Britain's decision to leave the EU but one positive is that results of opinion polls here on the importance of remaining in Europe range from 80% to 90% in favour of remaining. I very much welcome that. One of the weaknesses of the European Union over the years is that it did not connect with ordinary people in the street in the member states. If there is any lesson to be learned from Britain's decision to leave it may be that Europe failed to reform and connect with the individual member states.

I welcome the Minister to the House and wish him well in his negotiations on Brexit. We are not certain how all of it will play out but he has played a very important role so far and it is hoped it will end in a situation where Ireland will be a stronger part of Europe and that our future economic viability will not be affected. If the relevance of Europe to the ordinary member states and that connectivity had been assured in the past 40 years since Ireland and Britain joined and it became a larger unit, we may not be facing the current situation with Britain leaving the EU.

I very much welcome the Government's recent policy to increase our embassy presence across the world and establish new trade with countries outside the EU.In the next couple of weeks Ireland will have a unique part to play in spreading its message throughout the world. In recent years, in particular, this has been done to maximum effect. I want the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach, Ministers and all others who represent the country abroad to send a very strong message in the coming weeks.