Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure Members of the House will join me in sending our condolences to the family of the late John Browne. John Browne was nominated to this Seanad in 1983 and was a Deputy from 1989 to 2002. Any time I met him I found him to be a very decent man who imparted of his knowledge. His son Fergal was a colleague of mine in the Seanad from 2002 to 2007. Our sympathy and condolences go to his wife, Nancy, his daughters Carmel, Deirdre and Geraldine, and his son Fergal.

We saw in Westminster last night the Members of Parliament negotiating with themselves again. It is nice to see that the prospect of a no-deal Brexit has diminished somewhat but I would be very concerned that Brexit has created huge divisions, certainly in Northern Ireland and on this island. I read a news item recently about Trevor Ringland, who played rugby for Ireland. At the height of the Troubles, he and Hugo MacNeill were champions of co-operation and breaking down barriers on the island of Ireland but I am very concerned that Trevor Ringland has stated that there is no space in a very nationalist Ireland for even moderate unionists. I know the work that Trevor Ringland, Hugo MacNeill and many in the British Irish Association have done since the early 1970s in Oxford and Cambridge every second year but I am very concerned about that kind of rhetoric about a Border poll and nationalists being emboldened because of Brexit uncertainty. Nationalists have every right to aspire in that regard but these are difficult and dangerous times when we see somebody like Trevor Ringland, who was at the vanguard of cross-Border co-operation, coming out with a statement like that. We have to be very careful to ensure that we do not send out the message that we do not care what happens as a result of Brexit. We have to work very closely together on that. I was very concerned to see someone with the pedigree of Trevor Ringland coming out with a statement like that.