Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is great to see the MEPs here. As a Senator based in Dublin, I welcome this access, especially after the past couple of years. Ms Daly mentioned how difficult it is to get what they are doing into the media. That is true. The media here are absolutely dominated by Brexit. It is good, therefore, to hear about everything else. At the same time, I am Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Northern Ireland so I will focus most of my remarks on Brexit and Dublin.

This is a very sensitive time in EU-UK politics and of course the island of Ireland is in the middle of that, even though we sit on the edge of Europe. Without a doubt, it is the North of Ireland that is most affected. I want the MEPs to leave today with the importance of the all-island economy and duel market access for the North foremost in their minds.

The protocol is a solution to a problem, but the language is all very negative. I lived in Tyrone and consider myself a Northerner. The protocol is an opportunity for an area that has not had many opportunities. It is to be hoped this could be an opportunity to help our island move beyond identity politics and focus much more on prosperity politics. When I talk about the all-island economy, I talk about developing clusters of industry. This is especially important in regard to COP26 and the advantages of working as an island.

Representatives of the All-Island Cancer Research Institute appeared before the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement a couple of weeks ago. Great work has been done since the Good Friday Agreement was signed with the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium. There are massive opportunities there. We are already working with the National Cancer Institute in the US, and there is an opportunity there.

We have the Dublin to Belfast economic corridor and the Border area. The Irish Central Border Area Network, ICBAN, wants to develop the Border area as an economic area. The north west is crying out for infrastructure, skills and tourism. I was lucky enough to visit the area with my Fine Gael colleagues last week. There is also the need to protect the all-Ireland supply chains in respect of rules around mixed origins, in particular in the whiskey and dairy sectors.

Stability sets us up for foreign direct investment, FDI. The MEPs may say they are Dublin based, but we are all part of the all-Ireland economy and they have a voice when others do not. We have seen interest in FDI in the North and we want that to come to fruition. That does not happen whenever there is instability. I welcome the efforts of Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefovi and engagement with the people who really matter - those on the ground - for coming up with solutions around customs checks and medicines and giving people in civic groups and the Assembly a voice.

At all times, the EU has acted honestly. It has been united and has acted in good faith. It has pushed an international agreement, and the ink is not yet dry on its boundaries. The Government has been very honest and not aggressive about the potential of Brexit in Ireland. The fears of a hard border in Ireland remain. The third edition of a report from ICBAN and Queen's University Belfast, The Border after Brexit, written by Professor Katy Hayward, was published recently. Fears of a hard border are increasing. I wanted the MEPs to take away the fact that this fear remains and we need them to be champions for the all-Ireland economy and opportunities for the North.

ALMA, the Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve initiative, will feature as part of the European Social Fund Plus. It would be good to see the North involved in that in terms of work experience. I am particularly interested in the European care strategy and what MEPs expect from the European Commission regarding that. I am an advocate for remote and flexible work, and I want to know how that will feature.

Dublin seemed to undergo something of an identity crisis in the pandemic. The perception was that the rest of the country would benefit from regional balance and Dublin would be left behind. I would like to hear the thoughts of the MEPs on that and where they think we and the county councils should go as a city.