‘BREXIT IT TO THEM GENTLY’

Posted by Jim on June 26, 2017

English royals Elizabeth and Charles Windsor have delivered the
legislative agenda of the presumptive minority government in London for
the next two years which revolves around its uncertain plans to
withdraw from the European Parliament.

In an apparent sign of recognition that she must seek a broad consensus
for any Brexit deal, British PM Theresa May said getting EU withdrawal
right will mean securing “a deal which delivers the result of last
year’s referendum and does so in a way that commands maximum public
support”.

Doubts continue over whether May, who lost her parliamentary majority
in this month’s snap general election, will be able to win support of
the parliament to get her legislative programme through Westminster,
even with the likely support of the Democratic Unionist Party.

In a press conference with 26 County Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, May again
repeated her suggestion that the border through Ireland should be
“frictionless and seamless” as possible to recognise “the unique
economic, social and political context of the land border with Ireland
which so many people pass through every day”.

Reciprocal rights of citizens in both countries should continue, she
said, “including the rights guaranteed under the Belfast Agreement”.

Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard condemned the Tory government’s approach to
Brexit which he said had been a “shambles from day one”, while SDLP
leader Colim Eastwood warned May had voiced “soundbites but no
substance”.

Speaking at the same press conference, Varadkar said that Ireland was
“saddened” by the Brexit decision, but had to respect it. It was now a
question of ensuring the least disruptive arrangement for both
countries, he said.

He pointed to two “two particular things” his government wanted to
focus on: these were the reciprocity of civic rights that exist between
Britain and Ireland — the Common Travel Area — and an “invisible
border”, with the best possible deal on trade.

SPECIAL STATUS?

On Thursday, Sinn Fein welcomed a stronger line by Dublin’s new Foreign
Affairs Minister Simon Coveney who said that his government would seek
‘special status’ for the North of Ireland after Brexit.

Speaking at the launch of a Brexit report from the Dublin parliament’s
Good Friday Agreement Committee, he dismissed ‘language coming from
London’ that technology alone could bypass the need for border posts.
He said it would be very helpful to have an ‘all island’ approach to
dealing with Brexit, as it would provide clarity for the EU
negotiators, and make an impact on the British government’s approach.

“What we are insisting on achieving, is a special status for Northern
Ireland that allows the interaction on this island as is currently the
case to be maintained as close to the current norm as possible,” he
said.

He said that achieving this would require a political solution as well
as a practical and technical one that “doesn’t really have any precedent
in the European Union”.

“We have to respect the territorial integrity of Northern Ireland as
part of the United Kingdom, and we need to find a way through the EU
negotiating team of getting an acceptance from the British Government
and EU partners of a way of doing that which doesn’t compromise the
functioning of the common market, or doesn’t create a back door to
entering the single market,” Mr Coveney added.

The remarks were welcomed by Sinn Fein, but provoked antagonism from
unionists.

“It is a very welcome development that the Dublin government is now
coming onto the ground of special status as the only way to prevent a
hard border in Ireland in the event of Brexit,” Sinn Fein MEP Martina
Anderson said.

“Special status within the EU would also give effect to the democratic
wishes of the majority in the North who voted to remain so Dublin should
join us in making that case.

“Sinn Fein has been lobbying every EU member state on the need for
special status and there is a great deal of empathy with our position.
If the Dublin Government is now also coming on board it will greatly
strengthen our case, particularly in the face of Britain’s increasingly
chaotic Brexit agenda.”

But Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann described his comments as a
“thinly veiled attempt to break up the Union”.

Coveney quickly sought to distance his position from Sinn Fein’s.

“Others have been campaigning on the basis of using different
terminology and so when similar terminology was used by me some people
took political advantage of that,” he said.

He insisted that a “unique and special solution” needs to be figured
out.

“If part of the island of Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and
leaves (the EU) with Brexit then there are all sorts of consequences of
that in terms of movement and trade and the normalisation of border
activity on both sides of that border.

“We need to find a way of trying to maintain the status quo as best we
can in the context of that very significant change.”

BACK-BURNER

Despite the speeches, both governments indicated they were ready to
postpone the negotiation of the Brexit plan for Ireland.

The “very sensitive” issue of the Irish border might not be resolved
until near the end of the Brexit talks, warned David Davis, Britain’s
Brexit Secretary.

Although the issue dominated the opening day of Brexit negotiations,
Davis said it could take “until the end of the process” to resolve the
issue, because it will be tied in with the trade and customs deals he is
able to strike with Brussels.

He said the border is “a technically difficult issue” but it is one
which was “soluble, although it will probably take us until the end of
the process when we have already decided what our customs and free trade
arrangements are.”

EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who was a senior EU
official involved in the peace process, acknowledged that “this is one
of the most sensitive issues before us” and there was an “awful lot of
work to do”.

Speaking on his way into the opening session of Thursday’s European
Council meeting in Brussels, Leo Varadkar also appeared to accept that
Ireland would be dealt with towards the end of the expected two years of
negotiations.

“I would much rather that we have a good deal for Ireland in time, than
one that doesn’t work for us in a shorter time period. And of course
when it comes to issues relating to the border, the border between
Northern Ireland and Ireland, it will be difficult to determine the
final shape of that until we know what the new trade arrangements are
between the United Kingdom and the EU,” he said.