Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will, if the House will permit me.If a political decision is taken by a Minister in Northern Ireland to stop all checks in ports on goods coming across the Irish Sea to Northern Ireland, that is effectively a breach of international law. I would remind everybody the protocol is part of an international agreement. It was agreed and ratified by the UK and the EU and its implementation is not only part of an international treaty but is also part of international law. To deliberately frustrate obligations under that treaty would be a very serious matter indeed. It is essentially playing politics with legal obligations and I certainly hope it does not happen as has been threatened and described. We will follow that closely and we should also put on the record that the protocol was designed, conceived and agreed to protect the Good Friday Agreement at the time, in the context of the fallout on this island from Brexit. All of its dimensions fully recognise the constitutional position of Northern Ireland as set out in the Good Friday Agreement.

I would encourage those in positions of responsibility and decision-making to allow the negotiations to continue between the British Government and the European Commission, the process led by Vice-President Maroš Šefovi and the British Foreign Secretary, Elizabeth Truss. We are part of that process which is working towards compromise and agreement this month, if possible, so to make an intervention like the one that is being suggested will happen at midnight tonight is really unhelpful. I suspect it is far more about politics than it is an effort to try to find compromise, a middle ground position and agreement through flexibility and pragmatism. Let us wait and see what happens later on this evening. International law matters and it should guide us all, as lawmakers, in terms of our responsibilities in the context of Brexit and the protocol.