Along with my party, Sinn Féin, I have always stated that the EU requires radical reform. Our position has not changed. By pointing out these deficiencies, we are being robustly honest and showing the capacity to analyse the current state of EU affairs for what it is.
The ability to think dialectically and to learn from actual experience is what serves the people, not decisions based on short-term mood swings, repetitions of half-truths or distortions.
We are here to give voice to the people of Ireland, whose livelihoods now and in future would not only be severely affected but whose voices will be relegated to the sidelines as passive recipients of a hawkish, regressive Conservative administration.
We will drive forward the much needed campaign for reform within the EU; we have a responsibility to the people of Ireland to advocate and stand up for their rights.
This can only be done from within. A transformative policy of the EU will not be achieved on the basis of creating a political and economic vacuum, it will rather be achieved by working on drafting and implementing citizen centred policies that are at the heart of every EU and domestic legislative initiative.