Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank her for being here and appreciate her attendance at this very busy time. I am glad that she has come to take my Commencement matter.

Let me outline what moved me to ask this question again. I have raised it consistently since I entered the House. I am sure the Minister of State and her officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been alert to the mobilisation on social media on the concerns of Irish citizens living in the North. What we are seeing play out is Brexit exposing not just the negativity but also the anomalies and issues that need to be addressed for Irish citizens resident in the North. The reality is as follows.

As we all know, the Good Friday Agreement is an internationally binding agreement between two sovereign states. It confers, as a birth right, both Irish citizenship and British citizenship or everyone born in the North. That assertion has never been codified in British law and to the extent that is necessary in domestic law in this State. All of the anomalies have come into sharper exposure as a result of Brexit. It is obvious that people are concerned and will mobilise. They are offended, hurt and worried as a result of our failure to deal, both legislatively and legally, with this firm commitment that was made 21 years ago. Given the threats posed by Brexit and in a climate in which we have already lost our right to vote in European elections and to representation in EU institutions, as well as access to various EU institutions such as the European Court of Justice, it leaves people not only deeply exposed and worried but also creates a tiered level of citizenship. It creates inequality and goes against the core and heart of the Good Friday Agreement because we will have citizens resident on these islands who will have at various levels rights and entitlements and access to European mechanisms and institutions.

That is an important point to make and I will listen intently to what the Minister of State has to say because it is crunch time and the Government must address these issues. The UK Minister of State for Immigration, Ms Caroline Nokes, brazenly stated, in contradiction of the Good Friday Agreement, that as a matter of law everyone born in the North was a British citizen. Not only does her comment run contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, it also runs contrary to it in word and letter. I ask colleagues to take one minute to think about how that makes people feel. We do not derive our Irishness from our passport or even the Good Friday Agreement but from being Irish. After centuries of conflict the Good Friday Agreement indicated to the world, on a legal basis, that we had created a path out of conflict and that people's identity, allegiances and rights would all be respected. It is now clear in the already calamitous environment created by Brexit that these important core aspects of the Good Friday Agreement are not being lived up to or fulfilled. I do not think we will hear the end of the matter until it is resolved.