asked the Taoiseach whether his attention has been drawn to a speech made by the Six County Prime Minister, Lord Brookeborough, at Lisbellaw on 30th March, in which he referred to alleged inconsistencies in the Taoiseach's statements on the effects of possible Irish membership of E.E.C., and declared that the Common Market could as easily restore the unity of the British Isles as abolish Partition; and whether he has any comment to make on Lord Brookeborough's statements.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - E.E.C.: Six County Premier's Statement.
1.
I have seen a Press report of the statement to which the Deputy refers.
As the Deputy is no doubt aware, a general election is pending in the Six Counties. In the peculiar political situation of that area, it is to be expected that many statements of a highly contentious character will be made, during the coming months, by spokesmen of the Unionist Party, and I hope I shall not be expected to comment on them all.
I take it that the object of Lord Brookeborough's statement was to controvert my remarks about the probable effect on Partition of membership of the European Economic Community on the part of both Britain and ourselves. My remarks were based on the belief that the gradual disappearance, in such a situation, of the Border as a barrier in the economic and many other fields covered by the Rome Treaty would, in time, tend to promote a common desire to remove the political barrier also. This seems to me an almost self-evident proposition, and in this connection I recall what the late Lord Craigavon said on the subject. "In this island," he said, "we cannot live always separated from one another. We are too small to be apart or for the Border to be there for all time."