Speech by FF Leader Micheál Martin TD during Dáil Statements on European Council Meeting

The need to hold an emergency summit of the European Council on the sole topic of how long to extend the date on which the UK will leave the European Union was itself a failure.

Six years after David Cameron began the process leading to a referendum and three years after that referendum we appear nowhere near resolving the issue of what the UK’s relationship will be with its former partners.

The bulk of this blame lies squarely with London, but equally we need to understand that the Union itself is failing to get to grips with the situation and the urgent need to address threats to the Union.

The situation today is that we have hit roadblocks in relation to both the Withdrawal Agreement and the future relationship. On the first, it is not clear how a majority for the Agreement can be achieved in the House of Commons because opposing it is seen by different sides as maintaining their leverage.

Remainers want to avoid the definitive exit which would follow immediately upon ratification, and to at a minimum secure a much closer long-term connection. The hard-line Brexiteers want to avoid the close relationship implied by the Agreement and its links to the political declaration.

It should be noted in passing that the majority of these Brexiteers continue to be disinterested in Ireland.

The record of the many debates held by the House of Commons in recent months shows that Ireland-related matters are not a primary concern and a majority would probably vote for the Agreement with a Northern Ireland-only backstop and be able to pass it even if the DUP voted against.

It is also striking how the sole focus of the negotiations between Labour and parts of the government is the future relationship.

No one really has any idea what is likely to happen in the near future. There is a chance that a section of Labour MPs will support the Agreement in order to avoid another referendum; however there is little we can do to influence this.

The critical decision by the Summit was to make a choice between an October final deadline and a much longer deadline. It is not clear which of these options was the better because President Macron’s core point about how Brexit is undermining the EU’s day to day functioning at a critical moment is valid.

We have not held any emergency summit to discuss the reform of the Union, or how it can tackle the anti-EU campaigning of the left and right, or the need to complete the banking union, or the need for an increased budget – or indeed the vital issue of the leaderships of the Commission, Council and European Central Bank, all of which become vacant during this year.

October is a reasonable compromise which maintains some pressure on the UK to come to a fixed position, allows for a referendum or election if that is required, gives space for the inevitable Tory leadership contest and allows countries like Ireland which have not completed no deal preparations to catch up.

If there is a credible reason for a further extension at some point then that can be granted at an autumn summit.

It is important for us all to understand that the holding of European Parliament elections in the UK next month carries with it important risks if they take place in an air of complete uncertainty.

Were the UK definitely staying in the Union, the elections would be a moment to reconnect, but the huge uncertainty and aggressive rhetoric which has already begun could actually be a radicalising moment.

I don’t think that anyone, and Ireland least of all, would benefit from the further degradation of British politics and the empowering of more extreme voices.

So Europe should be ready to move quickly to respond to anything positive which might emerge from the negotiations in London or from any other development.

We also need to use the time now available to us to do something which we failed to do before – and that is to be ready for a no deal scenario.

We dodged a bullet on March 29th. On that date 50% of companies which trade with the UK had not completed basic registrations required to keep trading in a no deal scenario.

Only 10% of key financial supports had been allocated – with a much smaller number actually distributed. In Dublin Port, the management said that the Customs plaza was ready but the staffing wasn’t. And since March 29th, a long list of fundamental no deal guidance has appeared that should have been in place at time when the UK came within days of crashing out.

A defining characteristic of this government is the gap between its rhetoric, including its paid marketing, and its delivery. This delivery deficit was there yet again last month on Brexit and it cannot continue.

Industries and communities which are already feeling dramatic pressure from sterling’s volatility need a more active engagement. They shouldn’t have to be threatened with closure before anything is done to help them.

And we need a greater honesty about the impact of the mass increase in stocks in the UK and here which have distorted key markets and are a burden for many companies.

The economic update yesterday confirmed that Brexit has hit the growth forecasts published in the Budget last year – forecasts which were based on the optimistic assumption that the Withdrawal Agreement would be ratified and effective by March 29th. While the fiscal gap this causes has been closed by unexpected revenue on business taxes, we need much greater transparency on what is planned if the slowdown continues.

We need a much greater urgency and to be in a position that whatever happens in June or October we are actually ready. We need less talk about activity and a harder focus on impact.

Given the events of recent months and the rapidly changing situation, I don’t think anyone here can any longer credibly argue that Ireland would have been served by spending three months holding an election and trying to form a government.

Irrespective of the Taoiseach’s new habit of labelling any media stories which are inconvenient as empty conspiracies, it appears that much of his own government has regularly been trying to create the pretext for a ‘Brexit election’.

Fianna Fáil stands fully behind its decision not to force on Ireland the political instability which has caused so much damage to Northern Ireland and Britain. Indeed, had we been without a functioning parliament and government in recent months we would have had zero no deal legislation.

We also have to address the grave situation in relation to the Good Friday Agreement which goes well beyond the very serious issue of Brexit. Two of the three strands of the Agreement are in complete suspension, while the third is in a grave condition. And added to this you have the threat of direct rule being imposed.

It is over two years since the democratic institutions of the Agreement were collapsed because of a heating scheme which appears to have lost nowhere near the amount of money used to justify the collapse.

At a time when its future has been at the centre of international affairs for the first time in 21 years Northern Ireland has been left without a voice at the table. The pro-EU majority in the Assembly has been gagged by the two largest parties who agree on only one thing – someone else is to blame.

We don’t need our government to take the position of “we’ll help if we can”; we need it to show leadership. To get involved, and to try to get re-engagement.

If people aren’t even talking then of course they can’t reach agreement and nothing can be achieved. At a minimum we should demand that a civic forum be convened to give the people of Northern Ireland some place to express their views on reforming the institutions and getting through Brexit.

Now that there is some new breathing space Ireland’s best interests require a rapid increase in Brexit preparations. Businesses need to start seeing real support for diversifying products and markets.

Vital indigenous sectors which are already hit by Sterling’s devaluation have to be engaged with and helped to replace lost business. Most of all, Ireland has to speak up for a more effective EU, with a renewed leadership and focused on an urgent reform agenda.