Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Minister of State to the House and most importantly wish her a happy Europe Day, albeit belatedly. I commend her on the work she has done since becoming Minister of State in this vitally important role, a role that is becoming more important due to the mess that is Brexit. It has always been important and perhaps it has been undervalued by many in the political and chattering class. There is an amount of unseen work both in terms of sheer preparation, travel, engagements, acknowledging every single directive coming through, attending the 17 General Affairs Council meetings as a start in addition to everything else. The Minister of State has taken to her role with gusto, to give credit where it is due.

I will speak about Europe Day in the round. It is very important that we remember why we have what is now the European Union. Essentially for 61 years the European Union has been the greatest peace project in the history of mankind.

We can talk above EU directives and straight bananas and blue passports and all this other stuff, and pick at it. To come back to the simple fact, that a European member state has not waged war against another member state since the start of this project. That is remarkable. Anyone who was alive 61 years ago or anyone who has a knowledge of that history would probably not believe it, however, my fear is that my generation, our generation simply do not see that as a risk.

When we talk about violence and talk about peace, it is very important to note that the greatest threat to peace on this island now, unequivocally is Brexit. It is the possibility of a hard border frustrating and driving a wedge down communities across this island; the infrastructure of a hard border giving licence to dissident paramilitaries to return to a career of sheer bloody violence and madness that no one wants to see. When we hear the rhetoric from our good friends across the water that this is playing politics or this is strategy or tactics, it absolutely disgusts and appals me.

We are part of this wonderful peace project that has grown into something so much more over the 61 years and we are very lucky to be part of it because if the UK had not originally sought to join the European Community, we would not even have been considered. We were the island behind an island that had to rely on a British application and the veto for the original British application being removed when President Pompidou replaced President de Gaulle and we were able to get a foot in the club. Since we have joined the club we have thrived. We helped to lead the club and we have helped to direct it. Being a small island nation on the periphery of Europe, we have thrown ourselves at the heart of Europe, regardless of what party was in government.

We do have a great ability to always think of the European project and the European Union and focus on the small bit - the negative, the frustration, the bureaucracy the conspiracy theories, the fear of the large member states and what they are trying to do to little old Ireland and say that Europe is foisting something on us, without acknowledging that we are Europe. It is Irish people working in the Berlaymont, Ms Catherine Day from Dublin who was the Secretary General in the Commission, it is Irish Ministers, such as the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, and the Taoiseach going into Council meetings and driving the agenda and providing for all the 510 million citizens across the European Union. It is extremely powerful. Instead of knocking it, it is about time we acknowledged the benefits.

Our dear friends in Great Britain realised one cannot spend 45 years criticising a project and then in six weeks convince people they better stay in it. If we relentlessly focus on the small negatives and forget about the obvious benefits, the right to travel, the right to work in another European country, the right to receive healthcare, Erasmus+, Horizon 2020, the euro in all its forms, the fact that if we want to go to Spain, we do not need to spend two hours in a line up getting a visa and then transfer all our money into pesetas and then struggle along our way with no rights or responsibilities or anything. It is so much better now than it was when Irish people used to go there in the 1970s. We need to reflect on the benefits. We need to be aware of them.

The Minister of State mention the European Movement Ireland Red C poll from yesterday which found that 97% of young people want to remain in the European Union. That is the generation that does not remember what life was before the euro, what life was when there were borders or when we did not have safe food or clean air to the standards we have today. We can use that generation and remind them every day that we are lucky to be in this club but also to say to them that we have to take responsibility. Every time we seek to criticise Brussels for domestic legislation or something else, we first must acknowledge the benefits.For too long politicians across the divide, including some in my party, have knocked Brussels when it suits them but claimed all its benefits too. I welcome other political parties' recent conversion to Europeanisation. I hope it continues in the spirit of the social and economic benefits which will provide for all the remaining 27 member states. Hopefully, the EU will grow further, be it into the western Balkans or, most importantly, after March 2019, we will see the campaign for the United Kingdom to re-join the European Union. Ireland will be at the front of European Union member states welcoming the UK back in due course.