Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I commend the Tánaiste on his tireless efforts on our behalf with London, Brussels and all of our EU partners. There is no doubt that we are at a critical juncture now. It is hard to figure we are there when a week or two ago, the British Prime Minister told us we were 95% there. The Tánaiste and many others have been working on the remaining 5% since it revolves around the backstop. Britain was never more divided in its regions and across Scotland, the North of Ireland, Wales and within England itself. Those of us who attended the recent British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly plenary in London discovered that both the Conservative and Labour parties were equally disunited. I was surprised, having thought the Labour people were coming around, but that was not at all the case. All people from constituencies along the east coast were concerned about was fishing rights and they were leavers. They are totally divided. Despite all that, British-Irish relations were never better. The Tánaiste has acknowledged that and we also found it to be the case. I am delighted that at governmental level there will be annual summits to maintain the relationship. The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly wants to improve things also and to maintain the strong relationships its members have.

As Howard Hastings, a well-known and hard-nosed Northern businessman whom Senator Marshall will know well, said recently, Brexit is a monumental folly. That is what it is but we have to deal with it because we have to respect the right of people to make that choice. It is hard to see, however, how the withdrawal agreement will be ratified by the end of March, which is the timetable. On the other hand, perhaps it is not so hard to see given that all that is left is 5% and the Tánaiste, his officials and Michel Barnier's people are, presumably, working hard on this by the day. As the Tánaiste reminded us, Britain made commitments in writing on the backstop for the Border in December last and again in March. It made a commitment that it would form part of the legal text of the withdrawal agreement. We are delighted that the Government is holding fast to that. A good deal is essential for both Ireland and Britain. It is hard to countenance that Britain would opt for no deal. In fact, it is unthinkable. Why would it give up all of its existing European markets which include more than 500 million people? How long would it take it under WTO rules to secure the bilateral deals about which they have been talking? It does not bear thinking about. It will be catastrophic for them, perhaps even more than for us.

Regarding the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process, if there is no deal and criminal gangs find weaknesses and gaps, they will play hell with us on the Border. People are becoming slightly more conscious of this in Britain now and about what will happen between Dover and Calais and with the enforcement regimes involving the block on the French side. We have to think about how 80% of our exports to continental Europe go through British ports. I have no doubt the Tánaiste is working on this and I hope the wordsmiths in Dublin, Brussels and London will come up with an 11th hour deal which is acceptable. I do not mind if it includes a review mechanism as long as it does not interfere with the maintenance of the backstop.