UNIONISTS ‘VETO’ IRISH BREXIT FORUM

Posted by Jim on July 9, 2016

Sinn Fein has called on the Taoiseach to press ahead with a plan to
convene a national, all-Ireland forum on dealing with the fallout of the
British vote to leave the EU.

Despite being dismissed by DUP leader Arlene Foster, Sinn Fein leader
Gerry Adams said that three opposition leaders in the Dublin parliament
have expressed their support for a national Forum.

“There is clearly a consensus that maximum cooperation and coordination
is needed across the island of Ireland to meet the many challenges
arising from the Brexit vote,” he said.

He described the British referendum result as probably the “most serious
political and economic crisis to face this island in many years” which
was bad for the island of Ireland, North and South.

He said the idea of a national forum had been proposed by him to the
Taoiseach.

“In his response today the Taoiseach accepted that it was ‘a good idea’
and an ‘idea with merit’,” he said. “In this context the DUP rejection
of it must not be allowed to stand in the way of its establishment.”

Foster pointedly told a joint press conference following a meeting of
the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) on Monday that she had no
interest in the forum.

“With respect to the forum that seemed to gather steam over the weekend,
it wasn’t discussed with me over the weekend, or indeed before, and it
wasn’t discussed at the NSMC today,” she said.

The unionist hardliner said there were already “more than enough” bodies
and mechanisms through which the two administrations could co-operate.
“I don’t think there’s any mechanisms needed because we can lift the
phone to each other,” she said.

VILLIERS SAYS NO

The British Direct Ruler in the north of Ireland was also hostile to the
idea. Theresa Villiers said her government saw “no case” for the forum
and no need to add to the current structures.

Mr Adams was still positive about the idea, despite the rebuffs. “The
‘remain’ vote, like the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement in 1998,
uniquely brought together unionists, nationalists, republicans and
others in common cause,” he said.

“I also believe that there will be enormous goodwill for a Forum that
seeks to defend the North’s vote to remain and to protect the peace
process, the Good Friday Agreement, its institutions and the two
economies on this island.”

He said that Villiers should “butt out”.

“The Brexit vote – which Theresa Villiers campaigned for – presents
significant challenges for the people of the island of Ireland. Having
contributed to the current crisis Theresa Villiers has no right to
dictate to the Irish government and the rest of us how we should
respond.

“Ms Villiers lost the Brexit vote in the North. She should butt out. A
National Forum is the right approach for all the people of Ireland –
North and South, if we are to minimise the likely damage that Brexit
will bring with it.”

Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson said Villiers should follow the lead of
UKIP leader Nigel Farage and resign.

“The people of the north voted in favour of remaining in the EU and that
democratically expressed vote needs to be respected,” Anderson said.
“She has no legitimate claim to represent the best interests of the
people of the North on the EU and, as a result, her position has become
untenable.”

UNIONISTS ‘ON A VOYAGE’

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein appears to have inched away from its demand for an
immediate ‘border poll’ to be held within the Six Counties as a result
of the Brexit vote to take the North out of the EU.

Unionists and the British government have routinely rejected the idea of
a vote on reunification. But there have also been some within the two
nationalist parties at Stormont who argued that a low turnout by their
community, as has become the norm in recent Six County elections, could
backfire on them.

In an interview this week, Gerry Adams said he still thinks it was a
good idea to call for a border poll in the aftermath of the EU
referendum.

“There obviously is a challenge trying to get a majority in the north to
support us, but it’s a very legitimate demand and we will continue to
pursue it,” Mr Adams said.

He believes that for people in the North, the Brexit referendum was about
people’s identity, as well as economics.

“I’m not suggesting for a second that those who voted to remain from a
unionist perspective have become united Irelanders, they patently
haven’t. But they’re on a little voyage in the next two years, as these
negotiations go on,” he said.