Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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59. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if in the course of current negotiations on Brexit cognisance is taken of the fact that Northern Ireland rejected Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40544/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The UK decision to leave the European Union poses unprecedented challenges for the island of Ireland.

The Government continues very much to regret the decision. But it is the policy of the British Government based on a democratic decision within the UK as a whole, notwithstanding the fact that a majority of voters in Northern Ireland, as in some other parts of the UK, did not support Brexit.

The Government has always been clear, as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, that there are unique circumstances in respect of Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland as a whole which must be taken account of, including the protection of the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains and benefits of the Peace Process, including the avoidance of a hard border.

The Government has secured the support and solidarity of our European Union partners in ensuring that the Ireland-specific issues are fully addressed in the Article 50 negotiations.

Through those negotiations, the European Union and the UK have agreed that the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland will include a provision for a legally-operable backstop that would guarantee that there would be no return to a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Protocol will also provide for the continuation of the Common Travel Area, and the protection of North South cooperation and the Rights provisions of the Good Friday Agreement.

Discussions are continuing between the Task Force on behalf of the Union and the UK on the Withdrawal Agreement and draft Protocol.

The Government’s priority now is to support the conclusion of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.