John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, I did not.

There is a meeting under way between the members of the Good Friday Agreement committee and the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Hilary Benn. It has been a fruitful meeting so far. I will touch on the context of the English-Irish relationship, in particular during the past couple of years. As a member of that committee, I have met with various elected officials in the Northern Ireland Office. Whether it was with Lord Caine or Conor Burns, we had forthright discussions, but every time it was difficult to put the Irish context and the Irish side of the argument across to our Conservative Party counterparts in the British Government, particularly on the Rwanda Bill, legacy issues and legislation the Conservative Government was pushing through the House of Lords. I am pleased to see Hilary Benn is now in that office and there will be a potential reset in relationships between the Irish Government and the United Kingdom. The UK is our closest neighbour and both societies are deeply entwined with each other, so we have to have as good a working relationship as possible. It is important that both countries are on the same page, particularly when it comes to issues in Northern Ireland. At different stages, that has been very difficult because of different Prime Ministers in recent years. I am now hoping for a decent reset in Anglo-Irish relations, particularly with Hilary Benn as Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office.

When we look at Brexit and the issues the UK has had in recent years, I will say that the light is always on in the European Union. The light is always on for those 16.4 million people who voted to stay in the European Union. The light will always be on from this country and the European Union to the United Kingdom if at any stage, maybe in decades to come, the public perception changes and the benefits of the European Union are realised by the general public in the UK. The light is always on for those 16.4 million people should a referendum be held in the future. It is good to see the Secretary of State here. He has a series of meetings. As I said, he is currently meeting the Good Friday Agreement committee. I very much look forward to a reset in relations between our two countries.