The partition of Ireland is the most damaging event in the history of Ireland since the Famine. It set in train decades of second-class citizenship for nationalists and Catholics in the North of Ireland. It institutionalised discrimination and state violence and sundered thousands of villages, towns and communities throughout the Border region. It also hammered the social and economic development of Ireland and has seen the loss of thousands of lives. Even today because of partition, the Tories, who know nothing about Ireland and care nothing about Ireland, still have an enormous influence on how we run this country. Indeed, they can determine how people and products move around our nation.

The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, made a decision not to attend the event scheduled to take place in Armagh city today. He stated that it was inappropriate to attend. Of the events title, the President said that it was not a neutral statement politically. He stated, "What began as a religious service or reconciliation is now the celebrating, the marking... [of] the partition of Ireland and the creation of ... [North of] Ireland." The President is a scholar of Irish history and has a record second to none on reconciliation. We, in Aontú, believe he made the right decision. It is a decision that is supported by the majority of Irish people. I cannot think of another country on this planet that would be involved in the marking, the celebration or the commemoration of the partition of its own country. It is a peculiarity of the Irish psyche that we are even having this discussion here today.

The Government could have presented a united approach on this issue, but instead it disagreed with the President's decision. It has contradicted the words of the President. Does the Minister think the President was wrong? Do the Government's actions not implicitly indicate that it believes the President's actions were wrong? I believe that today the Government is snubbing the President of Ireland by going against his decision and attending the partition commemoration ceremony. How can the Government square the circle? Irrespective of what euphemisms or language the Minister might use in this situation, if the President was right not to attend the event due to its political nature, why is it right for the Government to be represented there?

I am loath to interrupt the Deputy while the clock is running, but he has repeatedly mentioned the President. There is a long-standing practice that Members should not draw the President into any argument or ask the Government to comment on the President. I ask the Deputy to bear that in mind.

I will bear that in mind.

I was going to wait until the end but he has repeatedly done it.

How can two arms of the Oireachtas take opposite decisions at the same time and for both of those decisions to be considered the correct decision? It is absolutely impossible. In the words of the former Fine Gael Minister, Paddy Donegan, is this Government not a thundering disgrace?

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I very much take on board your words of warning in this regard. However, in this case I think we are on safer ground because in this I am absolutely certain there is no difference or any controversy with regard to the President's decision. The Government fully accepted and understood that his decision in this regard was taken absolutely properly. His role on this issue is not in any way being called into question. It never was, from the very start of this becoming a controversial matter.

Under our Constitution, the Government and the various arms of the Oireachtas have different requirements, obligations and considerations. In this instance, the Government has decided that the that the Chief Whip and the Minister for Foreign Affairs would attend. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is engaged on an ongoing basis in the North. While absolutely acknowledging the President's decision and his rightful approach, the Government felt that did not preclude the Government sending a representative and it was appropriate for us to do so.

On the wider issue, I will be in Belfast myself this afternoon, attending a British-Irish Council meeting. Going back to the Deputy's original commentary about the effects of partition, I come from a similar viewpoint in the sense that I would prefer to see our island united. That would bring benefits beyond compare, too many to quantify. I also voted in that referendum to remove the articles in our Constitution. The provisions of the Good Friday Agreement recognise various different traditions and various rights on this island. We are all committed to work within the institutions set up under the Good Friday Agreement and provided for under our Constitution to try to bring reconciliation and optimise relationships, not just North-South but also east-west.

That is one of the reasons Government has been considering events like this and other events in which we also engage. We engage in the North South Ministerial Council meetings all the time to the best of our ability. We engage in the British-Irish Council in a way that is absolutely appropriate. I would like to see that extended further. The other provisions of the Good Friday Agreement give us opportunity, particularly at the time of Brexit when it is not just the partition between North and South but we are also contending with the major difficulties that Brexit brings, to use the institutions and have ongoing contact in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and in the spirit of the Constitution. The Irish people passed a referendum to amend our Constitution committing us to work with all parties in the North and to work with the British Government. That is what is happening today both at the British-Irish Council and with the attendance of Ministers at the event in Armagh.

There is no doubt that reconciliation is critical, but I think there is a misunderstanding in this State about what reconciliation means. Reconciliation is built on pluralism and by definition pluralism accepts there are differences and respects those differences. Reconciliation is about reaching out the hand of friendship. It does not mean that we have to dress up in each other's political clothes. Pluralism does not mean that unionists have to attend a 1916 commemoration. It certainly does not mean that nationalists have to attend a commemoration of partition.

In recent weeks the Government has engaged in verbal gymnastics. There has been a desperate search for a euphemism to hide what is actually happening here. What we see are two mutually exclusive and opposite actions happening and the Government claims they are both in agreement. By definition of physics it cannot be that the two decisions going in opposite ways can be in agreement at all. I do not think anybody is being fooled. Even Deputies from the Government parties are calling this out at the moment. While I welcome the Minister's opposition to partition, can he point to any actual examples of Government efforts to end partition since his party came into power?

The shared island unit within the Department of the Taoiseach is a prime example. One of the things we did with the shared island unit was to start engaging with environmental NGOs and others in the North, recognising that the shared island is a shared environment. Pollution and issues like climate change recognise no borders. Brexit gives rise to concerns that we could end up with two different standards of environmental protection, including habitats protection, that could drive a further wedge and create a new border which would be terribly damaging. We have been using that mechanism as a means to try to get an all-island approach to how we look after the environment. I cite the work we are doing today on transport. I have been working directly with Nicola Mallon on an all-island strategic rail review, investigating how we might run a rail line to Letterkenny from Derry, for example.

Yesterday I attended a European conference in Ostend on a shared approach to offshore wind energy. I could go on all day outlining examples of how we work in that way. That is the work that delivers best on our aspirations.