Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fearaim fáilte roimh An Tánaiste and thank him for tonight's contribution. I also want to thank the Leader for ensuring that we had this time with the Tánaiste at what is a crucial juncture, as colleagues and the Tánaiste himself have acknowledged. We are approaching the 11th hour and that is why we wanted to avail of the opportunity to engage with the Tánaiste. It is also why we are seeing a mobilised and an energised approach to the Tánaiste from the business community, civic society, the community and voluntary sector, the political class and many more sectors in between. I always appreciate and listen very intently when my colleague, Senator Marshall, rises to his feet, not least in debates such as this one. I also followed the surveys done by and the debate on Channel 4 last night. Despite the statistics and the polls, some of which were very striking for obvious reasons, what struck me was that much like the referendum lead-in itself there was no voice from the North in that debate. There was no consideration given to the North. One must wonder if that is manifest of British society. Are lessons being learned?

As colleagues have done, I wish the Tánaiste and his officials every success because the Tánaiste will appreciate that much of our welfare and, as he rightly acknowledged, our rights and entitlements and the peace that we avail of depend on this. I assure the Tánaiste, and he might be cynical about it but I hope he is not, that I want to part with politics and talk to him as a citizen who, like the 1,000 plus who wrote to the Taoiseach during the week, is on a knife edge as to the future and what we can come to expect. While we could get into the argument around the text of the agreement last December and the cast-iron guarantees, the lesson has been learned on negotiation with the British Government and where the cast-iron guarantees rest. That is where we are at. I do not want to over-egg the pudding in making that point but we need cast-iron guarantees from the Irish Government and I believe we have got them. We will be watching intently to ensure the Irish Government lives up to them.

The Tánaiste was right when he said the question of the Border and the Brexit negotiations are not just about economics and businesses or anything else. It goes much deeper than that. It is much more fundamental than that. Colleagues, not least colleagues from along the Border like Senator O'Reilly, appreciate those nuances more than most. That is why the letter to the Taoiseach by such a significant and broad representation of Northern society expressed and articulated people's fears and concerns but also their expectations. I appreciate and acknowledge the Tánaiste's and his officials' engagement with Northern society, not least with that representative group of Northern civic nationalism.

That is why, to touch on another element of the Tánaiste's speech, and appreciating the dynamics of this, I am not so green as to expect that we would have tanks rolling up to the Border. That is not what anyone wants to see. I believe the Tánaiste missed a trick, however, when the State-wide Getting Ireland Brexit Ready public information campaign did not go North. There was an opportunity there. His Department, officials and the secretariat in the North can host discussions around the Decade of Centenaries, can host lectures and can host receptions. It was not too much to ask, not least when one considers that the British Government told businesses in the North to engage with the Irish Government if they had any fears. Hopefully, that will be a lesson learned and we can build on the existing infrastructure and utilise the Irish Government infrastructure in the North to facilitate engagement with civic society, the business community, the trade union movement, people who have a fear and citizens who have an expectation, an entitlement and a right to engage with the Government and with the guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.

I have raised with the Tánaiste before the possibility of seeing that intention of the Irish Government not to leave any of us behind and the utilisation of the existing infrastructure and the development of a facility, service or amenity that people can avail of - people who as we all know and as has been outlined are being trapped in a Brexit scenario they opposed. Perhaps that is something that the Tánaiste could reflect on. Going back several months, the Tánaiste said at the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that he would look at the idea, have a think about and engage on it. Perhaps he might, as a result of his engagements, have a broader view on that.I have two more points to make quickly. I am conscious that other colleagues want to get in and I do not necessarily need to use all of my time. The Tánaiste said the Government was preparing for all scenarios. On the one hand, that troubles me as it indicates an element that presents us with greater difficulty and situations we do not want to see. In preparing for all scenarios, we need to look to the Good Friday Agreement. If we are upholders and guarantors of the Agreement and want to avail of a democratic life jacket to ensure, as the former Taoiseach did, a re-entry of the North into the EU, we should look at preparing for Irish reunification. We should not be afraid of that. It is heightened. I am an advocate and champion of it every day of the week but in a non-exploitative way. There is a fundamental democratic onus on us in that regard if we are preparing for all scenarios. No only is there historical and ideological obligation to look at all of that, there is now a case for the practical rolling out of that preparedness which makes clear and obvious sense. We should not be afraid of that. There is a growing expectation in Northern Ireland society that the Irish Government will facilitate opening that democratic discussion, discourse and space for people to engage in an informed, collaborative and respective way. There are a couple of points to address there, not least what I have referred to previously as the citizenship hub.

I refer to the Tánaiste's remarks on the backstop. I want to have them before me so that I am fair to him and quote him accurately. It is the issue of the review and the concession by the Government of an openness to considering proposals for a review mechanism. I understand the Government is in the middle of a negotiation.