Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I draw the attention of the House to the fact that today is the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement which brought power-sharing to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It brought cross-Border institutions and the principle of consent, and recognised the legitimacy of the people of Ireland to aspire to a united Ireland while recognising the current wish of the majority to remain in the UK. Over the weekend we saw a poll which effectively looked at a Border poll. It is quite interesting that should Northern Ireland remain in the customs union and the Single Market, the results would not be hugely in favour of a united Ireland but should a hard Brexit happen, we would be in a very different space. We should have a debate in this House regarding this poll and its significance.

We had the royal wedding last Saturday. I did not watch it, but I visited pubs and I visited my mother in the nursing home. Nobody talks about Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin Ard-Fheiseanna that are broadcast live but everybody seemed to be talking about the royal wedding. It was a little crass of politicians to state is was a waste for RTÉ to spend funding on the royal wedding because there is a significant amount of people on the island of Ireland who want to watch this. Some 20% of the people in this country aspire to watching royal events. If we really are reaching out and talking about uniting the people of our country, remarks such as this are crass. Everyone knows who I am talking about. These are one-off remarks and they do not represent the thinking of a certain party. For anybody talking about a waste of money in RTÉ, if we want to unite the people of Ireland it will cost our country an awful lot more. I have no problem in putting my hand in my pocket but it is a two-way street.