I welcome the chance to speak about the fiscal impact of the long-overdue reunification of Ireland. I also welcome the Tánaiste's speech. It is a pity that more people in the House did not speak up in the same way. For too long a false narrative has been published by those who oppose reunification. Whether in politics or the media, they have used their position of power to scare people off the idea but these are the same people who never cared about the people of the North or those in the Border communities that were forcibly divided. As a farmer, I look at the continued partition of this island and see the damage it is doing to our agricultural sector. Look at the spread of TB among herds. It is a disease that does not recognise artificial borders. Rates of TB in the North are far higher than in the South and many outbreaks in the South have been traced back to Northern herds. Farming families are put under immense pressure financially and mentally when they lose a herd to TB. That is heartbreaking. It makes no sense that on such a small, well-connected island we have two completely different systems trying to tackle the same problem. It is true that there is a joint project under way, but it is far too limited in the context of how it operates. We need a single, unified and all-island approach. Partition also creates barriers for our agrifood sector and prevents the full potential of a unified economic zone. It leads to higher costs and more bureaucracy for our farmers and producers and adds to the pressures they face. When we talk about a united Ireland, we need to be ambitious. We need to ask why the economy in the North lags behind that of the South and, more importantly, how we can fix that. There is no doubt that reunification will bring challenges, but it will also bring immense opportunities. It is time that we started focusing on those.

Sentiment score: -0.02