GOVERNMENT Chief Whip Joe McHugh has told a cross-border trans-Atlantic initiative in Boston that the Good Friday Agreement has to be protected “in all its forms” during Brexit discussions.
The Minister was speaking this afternoon at the Golden Bridges project event which brings together leaders in business, local government, education and other sectors from Donegal and Derry with their counterparts from Massachusetts.
The Donegal Fine Gael TD said too much had been gained through the peace process and with next year marking the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government would do everything to protect the peace deal.
The Minister said: “The Golden Bridges project along with the Tip O’Neill Diaspora Awards continue to breathe new life and fresh thinking into our peace process, a peace process which envisioned an island at ease with itself, effectively without borders and allowing communities to become whole again.
“In the aftermath of Good Friday 1998 checkpoints were removed, bridges and back roads were re-opened and those of us of a certain age could see the peace process grow before our eyes.
“In a fast-changing world of robotics, augmented reality and virtual reality we still need to hold on to the important ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ and people-to-people interactions and that is what the Golden Bridges project is about.
“A strong message was conveyed at a recent event I attended in Derry with the Taoiseach – that our region will not be defined by Brexit. I agree with that.
“I want to assure all people present here today that the Irish Government is working really hard to protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts.
“Let’s be clear. We will not agree to a hard border in whatever form – personnel, technology, video cameras or physical infrastructure. We cannot go back.
“We are committed as an island; we don’t want that. We don’t want a scenario where a border comes back again.”
The Minister said the relationship between the United States and Ireland remained strong and the support given from Boston to the North West continues to grow each year.
And in that regard, he said he remained committed to helping solve issues affecting the undocumented Irish in the USA.
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