Disqualifications Bill
3:15 pm
Baroness Park of Monmouth (Conservative)
My Lords, before the noble and learned Lord sits down, how does he reconcile what has been said with the fact that new Article 2 of the constitution of the Republic of Ireland states:
"It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish nation"?
Article 3 goes on to refer to the,
"firm will of the Irish nation ... to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland",
and,
"recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people".
It seems to me that those phrases in themselves make it quite clear that the government in Dublin do not yet think that they represent the whole of Ireland. That is the point we are making. We are not raising any minor issue. It is an issue of whether we are talking about a part of a nation or a whole nation.