Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I endorse 100% of what Senator Craughwell said about our Defence Forces and our county councillors and councils throughout the Twenty-six Counties. It is quite obvious from what the British Government, led by Boris Johnson, has been saying and by what it has submitted to the European Union that it is intent on crashing out without a deal. It is time for cool heads and I wish the Government well in the crucial coming few weeks. It is important that we look to the future and to what proposals the Government has relating to the British border on this island. I agree with Senator Bacik, who said she took exception to the Border being referred to as an "Irish border" when it is a British border imposed on this island. The British are now neglecting their duty to their citizens in the Six Counties and to the people throughout the Thirty-two Counties, as well as to the Anglo-Irish Agreement. I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Taoiseach into the House so that we have an opportunity to hear the Government's proposals for ensuring that this island is not decimated. We have heard about the tropical storm that we are facing in the next 24 hours but the tropical storm fuelled by the hot air from 10 Downing Street will turn this debacle into a typhoon that will destroy this 32-county nation.

I would like to hear what proposals the Taoiseach has for the Border counties. For almost four decades we were decimated, economically and politically, and it is important the Taoiseach outlines to the Border communities his proposals for their security, including their economic security. Down through the decades there has been a neglect of the Border region and a disconnect from it. Looking at the rail network map of the 1920s, nobody was more than 20 minutes from a railway station on the 32-county island, and this was a time when people had to use a horse and cart. Looking at the railway map of today, there is no rail line to Dublin north of Galway or Sligo. More worrying, a map of motorway infrastructure that has been constructed over the past 20 years shows a very disturbing similarity, with a total disconnect from the Border region and the North of Ireland. It is time we faced up to this and looked at the proposals to remedy it, and did so quickly.