Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would also like to be associated with the messages of sympathy for the late Mr. Cormac Ó Braonáin. He was such a young man, at 19, to have made such an impression across so many different levels of society. It is a huge loss to the Labour Party and politics. It is amazing to think of the difference for good this young man could have made to our country or further afield if he had got a grip in politics or life.

The United Kingdom election took place and I send my congratulations to Mr. Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party. It was an election that finally put to bed exactly where we are going with Brexit, although we will see what happens in the next few weeks. The Labour Party in the United Kingdom must think seriously about where it is going. One would think that in opposition the Labour Party would have done extremely well. We are in a very interesting position and it is quite clear Scotland and England are going their separate ways. That will have major repercussions for the island of Ireland.

I congratulate Mr. Colum Eastwood and Ms Claire Hanna from the Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP. I am delighted to see an SDLP nationalist voice in Westminster. I know many people from Young Fine Gael and Fine Gael who canvassed in both those constituencies for those two wonderful candidates. I send my congratulations to Mr. John Finucane, whom I met when he was mayor of Belfast. I wish him well. It was a stunning victory in north Belfast as that seat has been held by unionists for 128 years. This was not a good election for Sinn Féin or the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP. The real winner of the election in Northern Ireland was the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. It is not 50:50 any more but rather 40:40:20. This is a most amazing breakthrough for the Alliance Party, which is the middle ground. This will have major repercussions.

It is the wrong time to have a border poll despite everybody talking about it. Nationalists are correctly talking about an uncomfortable conversation that must be had. Nationalists in the Republic of Ireland will also have to partake in uncomfortable conversations about the relationship we will have with the United Kingdom. I mentioned in this House many times our association with the Commonwealth of Nations. We must have those uncomfortable conversations if we are to have an Ireland that will accommodate 1 million unionists who want to be part of that agreed Ireland. It has to be not just an agreed Ireland but there must be more links between Ireland, the United Kingdom and the European Union. I look forward to the challenging and interesting times we will experience in the coming years.