Ireland has the most at stake in upcoming EU negotiations after ‘body blow’
IRELAND is the country with the ‘most at stake’ in negotiations in the aftermath of Brexit, the Dáil heard yesterday.
A special eight-hour debate called to discuss the referendum result heard Labour leader Brendan Howlin say that the relationship between Ireland and the UK received a ‘body blow’, and that Ireland must make its voice heard to EU top brass.
Mr Howlin warned: ‘We are the EU member state with most at stake here. If European values mean anything, they mean that right now, our voice – the voice of Ireland – must be heard by all of our colleagues in the European Union.’
He said: ‘It is no exaggeration to say that this new relationship has been dealt a body blow by the referendum outcome last Friday.
‘The Brexiteers have claimed that the Common Travel Area will not be impacted upon by this decision. We certainly do not need any more physical barriers impeding the relationships north and south between the peoples on this island.’
He urged caution to EU countries who look to proceed with the UK’s exit immediately. Post-Brexit, policies designed for an internal EU market need to be ‘urgently examined’, Mr Howlin said.
Co-leader of the Social Democrats Stephen Donnelly said the decision by British people to leave the EU is a ‘symptom of the growing disconnect’ between politics and people. He prophesied that the EU will be looking to ‘lock the UK out’ to make sure that nobody else considers quitting the union.
Mr Donnelly said: ‘It will be looking to damage its society and its economy to make sure that nobody else thinks about leaving.
‘So if the Swedes, French, Danes, Greeks or anyone else decides to have a referendum, the EU will point at the UK and say, “Look, they can no longer move freely. They can no longer trade freely. They can no longer invest freely. So if you leave, the same will happen to you.”’
Independent TD Thomas Pringle also spoke during the debate and advised the Government to stand its ground during the negotiations in the wake of Brexit. He said: ‘Our government has been too quick to roll over and lie down when it comes to the elites in Europe. Might is right in Europe. The UK will be big enough to do a deal that will benefit itself.
‘So we have to put our Irish interest’s right. I don’t believe our government will actually put those interests first.’
During the lengthy Dáil debate Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said Brexit offers an extraordinary opportunity to end the ‘injustice of partition’. He called for a referendum on Irish unity.
‘The British government has no democratic right to represent the views of the North in any future negotiations with the EU... We need to put the island of Ireland first,’ Deputy Adams said.
Meanwhile Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, asserted that Brexit and a united Ireland are two ‘very different propositions’.
Several other deputies shared the minister’s view and said the
EU will look to ‘lock the UK out’ Border poll would be divisive
poll would be divisive.
Mr Flanagan added: ‘We must all stress that the UK is not leaving the EU immediately and that all arrangements, rights and facilities linked to EU membership still apply in full.
‘One of our challenges will be for Ireland to use our influence with our EU partners to persuade them of the need for specific arrangements which protect the key gains of the peace process on this island – a process to which the EU has already made a key contribution.’