No signs of Brexit unity in Northern Ireland as new era dawns

Posted by Jim on January 31, 2020

By David Hughes

January 30 2020 23:00 PM

Boris Johnson will promise to heal the divides opened by Brexit as the UK leaves the European Union at 11pm on Friday.

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But signs of unity over the way forward for Northern Ireland at the head of the Stormont government appeared distant.

The pro-Leave DUP First Minister Arlene Foster admitted that the Brexit “rhetoric from all sides of the debate has been divisive and common ground has not always been easily found”.

But she said the debate is now over, and with a new power-sharing government in place, “our economic wellbeing must be one of those issues upon which we can all unite”.

She called for those who supported frictionless cross-border trade to now “step up and use their voices in support of ensuring Northern Ireland has the access it needs within the United Kingdom’s single market”.

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Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said Brexit was “absolutely unacceptable”, and there was “a real risk” of UK talks with the EU failing over the next year.

“If this happens, it is absolutely vital that the provisions to prevent a hard border come into effect and the Good Friday Agreement is protected in all of its parts,” she said.

Mrs O’Neill said she saw “no contradiction” between sitting in government with the DUP at Stormont, while using Brexit as a vehicle for Irish unity.

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Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will hail the “dawn of a new era”.

At 11pm on Friday, bonds stretching back to 1973 when the UK joined the European Economic Community will be broken, but the Prime Minister insisted that Brexit will mark “not an end, but a beginning”. Very little will change at the moment of Brexit as a result of the deal which Mr Johnson agreed with Brussels and the 27 remaining member states. But the UK faces further uncertainty as both sides seek to strike a trade deal by the end of the year.

In a symbolic move, Mr Johnson will chair a meeting of his Cabinet in Sunderland, the city which was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the 2016 referendum.

And in what Number 10 billed as an “address to the nation” released an hour before the moment the UK leaves the EU, Mr Johnson will attempt to sound an optimistic note about the future and divisions which have been caused in the bitter Brexit battles.

He will say: “Our job as the government – my job – is to bring this country together and take us forward.”

He will call Brexit “the moment when the dawn breaks and the curtain goes up on a new act”.

“It is a moment of real national renewal and change.

“This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances – your family’s life chances – should depend on which part of the country you grow up in.”

As 11pm arrives, Big Ben will remain silent, despite a high-profile campaign fuelled by Mr Johnson for repair works to be halted to allow Parliament’s bell to ring.

But on Parliament Square, Brexiteers will gather for a party led by Nigel Farage, while Union flags are already flying around Westminster.

In official events, Downing Street will be illuminated with a light show and a new 50p coin will enter circulation.

In Brussels, the UK flag will be removed from the EU institutions, with one Union flag expected to be consigned to a museum.