Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I join with him in marking the day of German unity, the 33rd anniversary of which occurs today. It is important to acknowledge the role Ireland had in that fateful decision by the European Union to support reunification because it seemed to come at a thunderous pace and Europe was catching up. It was in Dublin where the European leaders came together and with the leadership of our Taoiseach at the time, they made the decision to support German reunification.

Of course, we had the Taoiseach in the Chamber last week and he has spoken, as have many others, on this topic. There is much we can do to work with our colleagues in Germany to learn the lessons they had to learn, and at a very fast pace, together with the mistakes they made.

There is a great line which, I believe, Bismarck said which was that the poor person learns from his own mistakes but the rich person learns from other people's mistakes. We need to learn the lessons of German reunification.

Bearing in mind that despite all of its complexity and the challenges Germany had, the people of Germany came together and supported it. Germany to this day does not know what the financial cost of this has been but, as many commentators have stated, that is not the issue. The issue is the magnitude of a people being divided and eventually, through the historic consequences of glasnostand issues beyond their borders, which is a bit like Brexit in our own situation, leading to a journey that is still ongoing. On this day, the small role which Ireland played in that should also be acknowledged.