Vol. 409 No. 4
2 Proinsias De Rossa asked the asked the Taoiseach, if, in relation to his speech at Law School of Notre Dame University during his recent vist to the United States, he will expand on his view that the people of Ireland will be united in a united Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
On the occasion referred to by the Deputy, I stated as I have on a number of previous occasions, that the common membership of both parts of Ireland and of Britain in the European Community places the Northern Ireland problem in an entirely new and more hopeful context. I went on to say that the progress towards political union and economic and monetary union will mean that before the end of the century, all Irishmen and women, North and South, will be fellow citizens of a united Europe. I also emphasised that our guiding principle must be the concept of mutual benefit so as to ensure that Ireland, North and South, gains the maximum possible advantage from the benefits of European integration.
May I ask the Taoiseach if he would agree that there are no proposals at Community level to change the borders of any of the member states of the European Community and that there would be resistance from virtually every state within the European Community if any such proposal was made? Can he indicate, therefore, that while there will certainly be a unity of the Irish people as there will be of all the people of the European Community in terms of economy and monetary matters, the political borders of the European Community will remain the same for the foreseeable future?
I do not think there is any doubt about that. We are all committed to preservation of existing boundaries except in so far as they are changeable by consent. The CSCE Treaty, for instance, makes specific provision for the changing of boundaries by consent. What I have been talking about in the various statements I referred to is the question of the economic realities. The economic border between the North and South of Ireland will become quite meaningless under economic and monetary union. All the citizens of Europe, including Irish people North and South, will share a common currency, the same sort of economic policies, they will elect Members to the European Parliament and they will increasingly become citizens of an integrated Europe. In fact, as the Deputy is aware, there is a concept now on the table in Community discussions for European citizenship which is beginning to take shape.
I accept what the Taoiseach has said in regard to the future development of European citizenship but in the course of his speech he indicated that he considered the current political division in Ireland to be an artificial division. Does that imply that he does not regard the political differences that exist within the island of Ireland as real, that they do not arise from different sets of allegiances?
I think the Deputy is reading all sorts of unnecessary implications into what is a very simple, practical, common sense statement. I do not think I ever spoke in any of those statements about the political boundaries, I was careful not to. I was talking about the economic boundaries, the economic divisions. I said that increasingly the movement towards economic and monetary union in Europe would make those out of date, that we would all be existing under the same type of monetary and economic policies.
When the Taoiseach spoke about the artificial divisions in Ireland he was speaking about the artificial economic and monetary divisions?
Deputy John Bruton.
Sorry, I have asked a question.
You have "asked a question" a few times.
The Taoiseach can indicate that he does not wish to reply or he can indicate yes or no.
I have nothing further to add.
It is an important question. The Taoiseach implied in the statement he made——
We are having repetition.
The point arose that the Deputy deliberately misinterpreted what I said.
I am not misinterpreting anything the Taoiseach said.
I never spoke about political boundaries.
The Taoiseach talked about artificial divisions in Ireland becoming irrelevant. I am asking him to clarify whether——
It should not give rise to argument or disorder now.
——he was talking about artificial economic divisions or artificial political divisions.
I have called Deputy John Bruton.
While not at all disagreeing with what the Taoiseach said, would he not agree that even within Belgium, which is in the very heart of the Community, Community divisions exist and that economic union does not remove political divisions automatically? In view of that, would the Taoiseach agree that it would be useful if the Council of Europe was encouraged to engage in more research into the resolution of majority-minority situations where two groups occupy a similar territory, which applies right across central Europe as well as in Ireland? Would the Taoiseach agree that this might be a useful topic to which to direct the attention of the Council of Europe as well as the European Community?
I certainly would so agree. It has become increasingly obvious, particularly in Eastern Europe, that ethnic and racial divisions are potentially of very great danger for the future of Europe.
