Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----as Minister with responsibility for foreign affairs and defence because we need both now. Undoubtedly, the UK Internal Market Bill is the most controversial legislative measure ever put forward by the UK Government. It can be challenged on many legal, constitutional and political fronts. I fully support the measures outlined in the motion from Fianna Fáil, but we must be realistic as time is of the essence here. As a former member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, I can attest to the commitment of both sides of the community in Northern Ireland to the peace process, but also to the fragility of the peace should the Border be reinstated.I have to put on record my deepest regret that Ian Marshall is not a Member of this House at this time because we needed somebody of his calibre here and I hope the Minister finds a role for him in his Department.

Here in the Republic of Ireland, we will be forced to implement a border should this deal go down. The Brits will have no interest in putting a border in place. We will have a Turkey-Greece solution. The Turks do not care how many trucks go across their borders. The Greeks have to protect the Single Market. The same will apply here. While the EU could pursue a number of legal routes to force the UK to comply with the protocol, it may conclude the UK's latest moves pose a threat to the Single Market. If so, the politically sensitive question, one which brings security risks of a border infrastructure on the island of Ireland, will have to be reopened. Once again, Northern Ireland finds itself at the centre of Brexit negotiations and once again it appears it is being used as a political football. I regard what is happening as thuggery. I believe that whoever came up with this idea is playing chicken and it is a very dangerous game. The UK Government's motivation may not be clear but there can be no doubt that breaking international law risks serious consequences in Northern Ireland, and if the UK Government wants to protect peace in the region, it should seriously rethink its moves.

I am delighted to see today that my own university, the London School of Economics and Political Science, has warned Boris Johnson that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, they are likely to suffer three times the impact the pandemic will cause in the near future over the long term. I hope Boris Johnson thinks carefully about that.

As a nation, we can use every diplomatic and intergovernmental avenue to limit the effects of the UK decision, and it may be successfully resolved before the year's end. At this point we must immediately start looking at direct routes to Europe. My colleague, Senator Byrne, is present and I am sure he will have something to say about that. We need to develop Rosslare Europort, Waterford and Cork and have direct routes to Europe. The misconception that has existed in this House throughout the previous Government was that the British Government would provide a single carriageway that would allow Irish trucks to drive across Britain unimpeded. Wake up and smell the coffee. We are not dealing with people who are capable of making any such commitment, even if their own population would serve it.

We cannot let a hard border be re-established in this country under any circumstances but if we are forced to do it, let there be no doubt in this House, it is the Irish Government on behalf of the European Union that will have to implement a hard border. The British will have no interest. Why would they care? We will find ourselves in that situation.

This brings me on to the lack of preparedness in this country. Our Naval Service has three of nine ships tied up without enough crew. All of our military are in the southern half of the country and we have closed barracks right across the north. We have no customs post and no trained customs people. We have no Garda Síochána on the Border, and my colleagues from the Border region will speak about that as I know they are more concerned about it than probably anybody else because of the dangers they face. They have lived with smuggling ever since the peace process. When there was no need for guns to be run across the Border, we ran diesel, drugs and anything else one cares to think about. Who will protect our fisheries? Who will look after our seafaring people? When the British navy with all its might will protect their seas, who have we got to protect ours?

I appreciate being given the time and I understand my colleague, Senator Norris, wishes to speak. There is much more I want to say on this but I thank Fianna Fáil for bringing forward this Private Members' motion because it allows us to discuss this in the open and I hope somebody relates to Mr. Cummings, the real Prime Minister of the United Kingdom-----