Senator Gerard Craughwell - speech from 23 Sep 2020

on Senator Crockwell. Are you sharing time, Senator? I wish to share time with my colleague, Senator Norris, if I may, please. Five and three. Agree. Minister, I want to welcome you to the House. I just want to put on record that Ireland is lucky to have you still in the post you're in, as Minister for Defence and Minister for Foreign Affairs, because we need both right now. Without a doubt, the UK Internal Market Bill is the most controversial piece of legislation that has ever been put forward by the UK Government and can be challenged on many legal, constitutional and political fronts. I reiterate the measures outlined in the motion put forward by Fianna Fáil and give them my full support, but I think that we need to be very realistic as time is of the essence here. As a former member of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement Committee, I can attest to the commitment of both sides of the community in Northern Ireland to the peace process, but also to the fragility of the peace, should a border be reinstated. I have to put on record here, Minister, my deepest regret that Ian Marshall is not a member of this House at this time, for we needed somebody of his calibre here, and I hope that you will find the role for him in your department. Here in the Republic of Ireland, we will be forced to implement a border should this deal go down. The Brits will have no interest whatsoever in putting a border in place. We will have a Turkey-Greece solution. The Turks don't care how many trucks go across their borders, the Greeks have to protect the single market. The same will apply here. While the EU could pursue a number of legal routes to force the UK to comply with the protocol, it may conclude that the UK's latest moves pose a threat to the single market. If so, the politically sensitive question, and one which brings security risks of a border infrastructure on the island of Ireland, will have to be reopened. Once again, Northern Ireland finds itself at the centre of the Brexit negotiation, and once again, it appears that it's been used as a political football. I have to say, I regard what's happening as thuggery. I really do believe that whoever came up with this idea is playing chicken with a very dangerous game in place. The UK's government's motivation may not be clear, but there can be no doubt that breaking international law risks serious consequences in Northern Ireland. And if the UK government really wants to protect the peace in the region, then it should seriously rethink its moves. I'm delighted to see today that my own university, the London School of Economics and Political Science, has warned Boris Johnson that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, they're likely to suffer three times the impact the pandemic will cause in the near future over the long term. I hope that Boris Johnson thinks carefully about that. As a nation, we can use every diplomatic and intergovernmental avenue to limit the effects of the UK decision, and it may be successfully resolved before the year end. At this point, I would like to say that we really must immediately start looking at direct routes to Europe. And I see my colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne, over there, and I'm sure he'll have something to say about that. We need to develop the Ross-Lair Harbour, we need to develop Waterford, and we need to develop Cork and have direct routes to Europe. For the misconception that has existed in this House throughout the last government, that the British government would provide a single carriageway that would allow Irish trucks to drive across Britain unimpeded, wake up and smell the coffee, we are not dealing with people who are capable of making any such commitment, even if their own population would serve it. We cannot let a hard border be re-established in this country, under any circumstances. But if we are forced to do it, at the end of the day, let there be no doubt in this House, it is the Irish government on behalf of the European Union that will have to implement a hard border. The British will have no interest. Why would they care? So we will find ourselves in that situation. And this brings me on to the lack of preparedness in this country. Our naval service now has three ships of nine tied up, without enough crew. We find ourselves in a situation where all of our military are in the southern half of the country and we have closed barracks right across the north. We have no customs post and no trained customs people. We have no Garda Siakana up on the border. And my colleagues from the border region can speak about that. I know that you guys are more concerned about this probably than anybody else because of the dangers that you face. You are aware, you have lived with smuggling ever since we had the peace process. For when there was no need for guns to be run across the border, we ran diesel and drugs and anything else you care to think about. Who's going to protect our fisheries? Who's going to look after our seafaring people? When the British Navy, with all their might, will protect their seas, who have we got to protect ours? I appreciate being given the time and I understand that my colleague now, Senator Norris, wants to speak. There's lots more I'd like to say on this, but I do want to thank the Fianna Fáil party for bringing forward this private member's motion because it allows us to discuss this in the open. And I hope that somebody relates to Mr Cummins, the real Prime Minister in England, that this is not the way to do things. Thank you. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris. Senator Norris.