Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste and I thank him and his officials for all the work they have done in the past few years. It has been a very difficult time. I compliment the Government, the Taoiseach, the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, the Tánaiste and our spokesman in the Seanad, Senator Richmond. Over time, it has been a very difficult few years but the Government's message has been clear, concise and fair. All the Opposition parties have rallied together; not in wearing the green jersey but in understanding that this is a seminal moment in Irish politics. It is a seminal moment for the island of Ireland. The Taoiseach has said that there cannot be an expiry date or a unilateral exit clause in the backstop or it would not be worth the paper it was written on. Ireland and the EU's position on the backstop remains clear and we cannot allow uncertainty about the Border and its impact on the peace process to persist beyond the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Such uncertainty is causing grave concern in communities in the North and the South. While our preference is for solutions to be found as part of the overall EU-UK relationship, it remains essential that a backdrop is agreed that provides certainty that a hard border will be avoided in any circumstances. We have been clear on this matter. How many times have people put the question and been told that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland? Sometimes people do not listen.

When Brexit happened, we were asked by British politicians, who are our good friends, what we thought of it. We told them that we saw it as the United Kingdom accidentally shooting itself in our foot.That is what has happened. We have to protect ourselves while appreciating that a good deal for the UK is a good deal for Ireland and Europe.

We should remember that next Sunday, we will commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War. We had our own Irish exit - or Brexit, for want of a better word - at the 1918 general election when the Sinn Féin party of the time won 46% of the vote. Just as Brexit came about because of immigration, conscription was probably the main issue that got most of the Sinn Féin seats over the line in 1918. The effect of this was the creation of a 26-county Republic. It is felt that the conscription crisis was a crucial turning point in Irish history. We often talk about the 1916 Rising and the shooting of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, but the effect of the issue of conscription can never be underestimated. Although a conscription law was passed by the British Parliament, it was not enacted. At the seminal moment of the 1918 election, however, the effect of the conscription issue was to ensure the Sinn Féin party of the time got its seats over the line.

We must ensure east-west relations remain close. Senator Marshall has rightly referred to recent polls in the UK. I hope they mark a realisation that leaving the EU could be bad. It is unfair that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach are seen as changing the pattern. Nothing has changed. It is exactly the same as it was when Deputy Enda Kenny was Taoiseach and Deputy Flanagan was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. We are united across all parties in this House to ensure there cannot and will not be a border on the island of Ireland. In the words of Eamonn McCann, if there is a border on the island of Ireland, the people will tear it down with their bare hands. We cannot say that forcefully enough. We are not being anti-British when we state the facts as reported by a politician who is listening on the ground.