Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There is a golden opportunity, which as been well flagged by the work of Irish-French parliamentary grouping. This has taken on a whole new meaning because France is now Ireland’s closest neighbour in the EU. There are significant historical and educational ties between France and Ireland. The Alliance Française is, of course, located close to us here on Kildare Street. It was the first Alliance Française established in a non-French speaking country.

The Irish College in Paris has hosted Irish priests and academics since the 16th century and was the first Irish collegiate community abroad. In fact, the seminary in Maynooth was re-established in 1795 as a direct consequence of the suppression of the Irish College in Paris during the French Revolution.

Around 30,000 Irish people live in France and more than 11,000 French citizens live in Ireland. Ireland and France have aligned on many issues in the past. Today, one area where we share ambition is on interconnection. Soon the grids in Ireland and France will be linked through the Celtic interconnector, a project that is being developed by EirGrid and its French counterpart. This will provide greater security of supply and cheaper prices for Irish electricity customers.

It has been said on many occasions, and I remember the Minister, Deputy Ryan, saying this, although not today or yesterday, that Ireland has the potential to be the Saudi Arabia of energy. In due course, due to our natural advantages in this field of wind and wave energy, we could be a leader exporting our energy supplies to our neighbours.

Apart from the golden opportunities that the new political situation brings, I would like to put on record how deeply grateful we are to Irish America. The voice of Irish America fed into our committee’s work with Congressman Richard Neal. We appreciated how Irish American senior politicians understood the nuances and what was at stake, and were forthright and absolute in their stance. I appreciate that the Americans appreciate this. I get that.

I hope, and maybe the Minister, Deputy Coveney, can help us because one can never say this often enough, to communicate to America that not only are we grateful, but we hope America knows how grateful we are for the stance it took during Brexit. It was remarkable. Not so long ago I remember former president, Ronald Reagan, coming to Ireland. He was asked about the Irish question and he said I love this country but I cannot interfere. A different and fairer America is now representing the people. I would like to thank America. We are grateful and I hope it knows how grateful we are.

I would also like to say, and not for the first time, that in the longer term, we have to seek a formal voice for citizens living in Northern Ireland to feed more directly into the EU structures and infrastructure, and I have spoken to Commissioner McGuinness about this. They enjoy the best of both worlds, namely, the Single Market and the internal UK market. However, in due course, we have to organise a proper democratic voice for citizens of Northern Ireland.

I would say to our friends, our brothers and sisters, in Ulster unionism that they have nothing to fear, except perhaps fear itself. They had an opportunity to cement and secure their identity and union, but they way they are going about it is the opposite. An unintended consequence of Brexit will be to bring a united Ireland closer. A hard Brexit, which unionists want, only speeds up that prospect. If they could try to look it objectively, an unintended consequence is that they might be doing counterproductive work to their British identity and union from the stance they are adopting. I am saying that as someone who believes that on this small, shared island we must get on with our brothers and sisters and respect them and that they must feel fully secure and involved. However, there is a different way of going about it than the way they are going about it the moment. They must look out and not look in. I live to see the day where green and orange will have an amazing, beautiful and harmonious dynamic together. That is not any day soon, unfortunately.

I will conclude by saying that the one outstanding memory of the Brexit to date has been the unified approach of public representatives in the Republic of Ireland. I would particularly like to thank Members from the Opposition. On more than one occasion, they have been accused of populism, including by myself. However, when it came to the biggest issue facing us, they were steadfast, they stuck with it, they were not opportunistic and they backed the Minister of the day. It is the little things in life that sometimes cause difficulties and divisions but it is on the big things in life that we are one. We were one when it came to peace in our country. We were one when it came to doing what was best for our country, even if it meant at political loss to parties. I just want to put on record how grateful we are. A country working together on the big ticket issues is absolutely vital. I want to see more of that in the future.