HC Deb 22 February 1978 vol 944 cc1438-9
54. Mr. Kilfedder

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Ireland raised the matter of Northern Ireland and its status at the EEC Council of Ministers; and what reply he made on behalf of Her Majesty's Government.

Mr. Judd

No, Sir. This matter has not been raised in any meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Mr. Kilfedder

I am much obliged for that reply, which denies the statement made by the Eire Foreign Minister. Is not membership of the Common Market an acceptance of the territorial boundaries of other member States, and would the hon. Gentleman emphatically and bluntly tell the Eire Government to belt up and stop playing politics with the lives of Ulster people by continuing to demand British withdrawal from a part of the United Kingdom and attempting to deny the right of Ulster people to remain British?

Mr. Judd

Membership of the Community is certainly a recognition of the territorial boundaries of other member States.

Mr. Madden

Has my hon. Friend received representations from Ireland or elsewhere about the rumoured proposal of the Conservative Party to take away the vote from the Irish community in the United Kingdom?

Mr. Judd

We have had no such representations from fellow members, but, like my hon. Friend, we read the newspapers.

Mr. Biggs-Davison

While the future status of Northern Ireland is a matter for the United Kingdom and the people of the Province, could not the Dublin Government prove helpful to the concert of Europe and to peace in the island of Ireland by signing the European Convention on Terrorism?

Mr. Judd

The view of the British Government on this matter is well understood by the Government in Dublin.