Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Let me begin with a quotation. The Taoiseach said:

To the nationalists people in Northern Ireland I want to assure you that we have protected your interests throughout these negotiations. Your birthright as Irish citizens, and therefore as EU citizens will be protected. There will be no hard Border on our island. You will never again be left behind by an Irish Government. These rights will of course be available to everyone in Northern Ireland who chooses to exercise his or her right to be an Irish citizen, regardless of their political persuasions or religious beliefs.

Unfortunately, with the decision we will inevitably take tonight, the Government's commitment has fallen at the first hurdle. We are being left behind. The most basic entitlement and right of any citizen is the right to vote, the right to a franchise and the right to elect representation to whatever forum is democratically available to the individual. While I do not believe Senator Murnane O'Connor in her heart of hearts believes half of what she said, I have to take issue with the notion that on the one hand we should have a strong voice in Europe, while on the other hand denying a strong voice to her fellow citizens in the North. Imagine saying in this Chamber that giving people a vote, giving them a franchise, would be somehow undemocratic. I find that off the wall in terms of the political and electoral process. I also find it massively offensive. I resent the view that says to me that I and the hundreds of thousands of people like me in the northern part of this country are not just feeling like lesser Irish citizens but that by the actions here tonight we are being shown legislatively that we are lesser citizens because we have been denied this right to vote. I note what the Leader said in respect of the Fine Gael Party's actions during the week. At the end of the day, it is a matter for the Fine Gael Party to take the political decisions it wants to take. If Mark Durkan wants to be a Fine Gael Party candidate and run for the European Parliament, that is entirely his decision. He should be able to run in his native city, Derry - Doire Colmcille, that is where he should be standing and seeking votes, the same as any other candidate who want to himself or herself forward.

When Britain leaves the EU the first human right which will be denied to the people in the North, unionist and nationalist, is the right to vote in an European Parliament election, the right to have their voice heard in the EU by electing an EU candidate. This is particularly important, given the fact that we voted to remain in the EU and are being dragged out of it against our will. It would be universally welcomed across the North if the Government were to allocate the two seats to that constituency. It would restore the democratic needs of the people, which has been undemocratically and summarily removed from them by the British Government and the DUP.

Yesterday, the Seanad special select committee on Brexit visited the North. It was a busy day, meeting a number of groups, organisations and individuals. Almost universally, whether legal academics, professors or solicitors, all agreed that the Government was able to do this and that there was no legal impediment to allocating these two seats in the North. It is my view and that expressed by those experts yesterday. Members should talk to their colleagues in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fail Parties, because everyone was significantly moved by what he or she heard yesterday. Not only was there a legal rationale against this decision by Government, and in favour of a decision to allocate the two seats to the North, but there was a real palpable resentment at what was happening and a real sense of the loss of rights.The Irish Government could fill the democratic gap created by the British Government if it allocated the two seats northwards. The majority who voted to remain are the advance guard of democratic politics in that part of our country. Their democratic decision and stance should be acknowledged and enfranchised by the Irish Government. The best and most immediate way to do so is to allocate the two extra EU seats to the North.

A few hours ago in this Chamber I heard representatives of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael exhort the virtues of giving us a vote for the President. Last year, the Taoiseach was in here and made a firm political commitment, as well as a later commitment, not to leave us behind, that the Seanad should have a specific panel for the North and that people in the North should have the right to view. That was summarily agreed by us all and put forward in the Seanad reform group's recommendations. One has this talking out of both sides of one's mouth and the legal ability to do two things in this regard, namely, the Presidential election and the Seanad election. However, when it comes to the European Parliamentary elections there is a refusal to do so.

Irish citizens in the North have rights, or they should have rights, and the Irish Government is, or is supposed to be, the principal guarantor of those rights. It is important, as the date for Brexit draws closer, that people rally in defence of the Good Friday Agreement, in defence of their general rights and take to the streets to protect those hard won rights, if necessary.