Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It may not proceed, but that is what we are witnessing. While sympathy may go to a person who is battling for a particular position, nonetheless it should be remembered that Mrs. May has set her face against allowing the British people to have a final say in whether they do or do not want to leave the European Union on the terms she has negotiated.

I want to put on the record that from my point of view some basic facts are relevant. She articulated the proposition that no deal was better than a bad deal. While a nominal remainer, she failed to convince the British public to reject the Brexit referendum. It was she who told the British public, when she became Prime Minister after David Cameron, that there would be no snap election. It was she who broke that promise, held a snap election, delivered herself into the hands of the Democratic Unionist Party and gave it a large say over what happens in Westminster on this issue. Finally, it is she who has brought us to this position. All I am saying is that whereas most of us would have sympathy for a person embattled in the circumstances in which she is and in some sense would wish her well, the simple fact is that the underlying project she has embarked upon is highly damaging to Britain, Ireland and the European Union. We should never forget that.