Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in welcoming today's British Supreme Court ruling, which indicates that common sense is returning to our friends and neighbours. I have often said that we view Brexit as the British accidentally shooting themselves in our foot. That said, there is goodwill in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and in this Parliament. We are committed Europeans but we want to remain good friends with the United Kingdom. We also want to ensure that the United Kingdom remains a good friend of the European Union. Up to 80% of our colleagues in Westminster and the House of Lords do not believe that Brexit is good for the United Kingdom, for relations between Ireland and the UK or for the EU. The fact that common sense appears to be prevailing must be welcomed.

On another note, which may be related to Brexit, I was truly appalled by the depraved attack on Mr. Kevin Lunney, a Quinn Industrial Holdings director who is now dealing with life-changing injuries. Last night, I watched the "Claire Byrne Live" programme on television and felt a chill as another Quinn Industrial Holdings director, Mr. John McCartin, a colleague and good friend, spoke about constant threats, including death threats, and the campaign of intimidation against company executives, including himself, over the past five years. Both Kevin Lunney and John McCartin are married with young children. What Kevin Lunney was subjected to, having been abducted by a criminal gang and tortured for over three hours, does not bear thinking about. Some of the newspaper reports of what the thugs reportedly did to Mr. Lunney were stomach-churning and raise serious questions about how close we are to the breakdown of law and order in parts of the Border region. Indeed, the journalist Ms Dearbhail McDonald said on "Claire Byrne Live" last night that the campaign of violence and intimidation is one of the greatest challenges to the rule of law since we signed the Good Friday Agreement and it is hard to disagree with that analysis. The warning signs have been there for several years.

I commend the good work being done by An Garda Síochána and the PSNI in investigating this incident. It is imperative that not only are the foot soldiers apprehended but also those who paid the gang to carry out this brutal act. Another question that must be asked is why these Quinn Industrial Holdings executives were not given sufficient protection against a background of sustained intimidation over the past five years. If gardaí can be posted outside the homes of at-risk gangland members, surely the state, North and South, can protect these citizens against loss of life? Another worrying question is why threats posted on Facebook against company management have stayed up for years. This hateful content was only removed by Facebook last Sunday night. This is a question that Facebook must answer. Last Friday, like thousands of others, I attended a peaceful protest in support of and solidarity with Quinn Industrial Holdings management and employees.Some nine and half years earlier, I was part of a cross-party delegation that met Seán Quinn and his management team in a bid to save jobs. I could never have envisaged the events which have unfolded since. We now have an obligation to do what we can to ensure the resources are in place to protect our citizens and 850 jobs in this country. This is undoubtedly the feeling in the local community, which relies so heavily on Quinn Industrial Holdings to sustain employment and the economy in the north-west region and along the Border. We must never lose sight of that fact. I look forward to increased levels of cross-Border co-operation to put an end to this horrific campaign of violence and intimidation.