CHANGED UTTERLY? PARTY LEADERS ACCEPT REUNIFICATION DRIVE
Posted by Jim on July 23, 2016
In a potentially historic advance, the Irish Taoiseach and the leader
of the largest opposition party in the Dublin parliament have both said
they recognise the prospect of a referendum to bring about Irish
reunification.
Speaking at the MacGill summer school in the Glenties, County Donegal,
the two leaders separately stated that a united Ireland referendum
could take place in the near future arising from the fact that the Six
Counties of the north of Ireland voted to remain in the European Union,
while Britain voted to leave.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny called on the European Union to prepare for the
Six Counties seeking to reunite with the 26 Counties in a ‘border
poll’, as outlined in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The Fine Gael
leader said such a referendum was now more likely in light of the
decision by Britain to leave the EU.
He likened it to Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the EU
supported West Germany in absorbing the East back into their country —
and the EU.
“The discussion and negotiations that take place over the next period
should take into account the possibility, however far out it might be,
that the clause in the Good Friday Agreement might be triggered,” he
said, “in that if there is a clear evidence of a majority of people
wishing to leave the United Kingdom and join the Republic, that should
be catered for in the discussions.”
He said a unity referendum was more likely to succeed due to recent
events: “It may be, in the eyes of some, a fanciful theory but who
knows what happens in 10, 20 years time?”
His comments were later said to be related to upcoming negotiations in
Europe on dealing with the implications of Britain leaving the EU, and
he drew on a surprising precedent.
“In the same way as East Germany was dealt with when the wall came
down, was able to be absorbed into West Germany and not to have to have
to go through a torturous and long process of applying for membership
of the European Union,” the Taoiseach said.
“So when Northern Ireland voted to stay (in the EU), who knows what
might happen in the time ahead? I am just making the point that these
are the kinds of things that should be looked at in the broadest of
ways in discussions that take place.
“People said it would be impossible that Britain would leave the
European Union; that has taken place now.”
The statement marks a historic shift in the stance of a party which has
always sought to avoid any discussion about the North which might
offend unionists or the British government.
Just 24 hours earlier, the leader of Ireland’s chief Opposition party
Micheal Martin said he hoped Brexit would move Ireland closer to
reunification.
The Fianna Fail leader, who is allied with Mr Kenny in support of his
minority coalition government, said a reunification referendum should
be called if it becomes clear a majority want to see an end to Irish
partition over the UK decision to pull out of the EU.
Mr Martin added that the North’s 56% majority vote to remain within the
bloc could be a defining moment for the region.
“It may very well be that the decision of Northern Ireland to oppose
the English-driven anti-EU UK majority is a defining moment in Northern
politics,” he said. “The Remain vote may show people the need to
rethink current arrangements. I hope it moves us towards majority
support for unification, and if it does we should trigger a
reunification referendum.”
Mr Martin, a former foreign affairs minister, said a move to further
divide the island with a customs and immigration frontier “would
potentially set us back decades”.
“The most urgent thing which is required is an immediate end to the
hands-off detachment of recent years,” he said. “Meeting the challenge
of Brexit is a moment to end this and also to begin rebuilding public
faith in politics.”
He also appeared to accept his own party’s previous failings in regard
to the North.
“It is a sad reality that our government and our media have tended to
ignore Northern Ireland except when there is a crisis. Meeting the
challenge of Brexit is a moment to end this and also to begin
rebuilding public faith in politics.”
He called for an all-island response to Brexit that reaches out “to
excluded groups, to show that a broader range of interests than those
articulated by the dominant political parties can be heard”.
He added: “I have in particular stressed our belief that civil society
must be included together with business, unions and professional
organisations.”
At the heart of political concerns is the 310-mile partition of Ireland
which is the only land border between British jurisdiction and the rest
of the EU. Militarised with checkpoints and road closures at the height
of conflict, their replacement with electronic surveillance systems
could be threatened by Brexit and physical controls once again placed
on the movement of people and goods.
Britain’s new governor in the north of Ireland, James Brokenshire, said
he did not think that the ‘conditions’ for a referendum in the Six
Counties (essentially, that it would pass) have been met. But on his
first day in Belfast, he accepted that the issue of a border was a
priority.
“We don’t want to see that hard border coming into place and I think
there is a real sense of commitment between the UK government and also
the Irish government to work together very closely so we don’t see that
returning,” he said.
Irish reunification is the “biggest and best idea around” and must now
be considered in light of Brexit, according to SDLP leader Colum
Eastwood. However, he pointed to the failure of Irish politicians to
advance their cause relative to Scottish leaders.
“Scottish independence campaigners produced a 670 page document
outlining the path to independent nationhood and how it would operate,”
he said. “It was credible and detailed. Irish nationalism now needs to
start on its page one.”
Almost 90 per cent of people polled in a survey for the Derry Journal
this week said they would vote for a United Ireland if a referendum was
held now. Another poll, for the unionist Belfast Telegraph ibn Belfast,
showed some 73% supported an immediate border poll with 70% saying they
would vote for the two parts of the island to be reunited.
On a visit to Scotland last week, the new British Prime Minister
Theresa May stressed the need for what she described as a “UK approach”
to be agreed before Brexit was triggered. As it appeared she had a
potential Scottish veto on Brexit, Scottish First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon said her country was now in a “very, very strong position”.
Sinn Fein’s deputy First Minister in Belfast Mr McGuinness referred to
the same comments as he spoke outside Stormont Castle in Belfast on
Monday.
“Theresa May said in the aftermath of the meeting with Nicola Sturgeon,
and Nicola quoted her over the course of the weekend, that she would
not trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty unless people in these
areas were content,” he said.
“Well I can tell Theresa May, and I did tell her when I spoke to her on
the telephone last week when she rang me, we are not content. The
people of Scotland have made their position clear, we have made our
position clear – that needs to be respected.”
Mr McGuinness also spoke of his fear that the troubled Six County
economy could suffer the absence of EU financial supports.
“The economic implications for us in a withdrawal from the European
Union are very profound, costing us over a period of ten years anything
in the region of 7 to 8 billion pounds and possibly even more,” Mr
McGuinness told a press conference. “There is alarm in the north of
Ireland among the business community, among the community and voluntary
sector, among our universities, among our agri-food industry.”
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said the comments from both Mr Kenny and
Mr Martin mean a referendum on a united Ireland is now on the agenda —
and that a decision should be made within four years.
“The British decision to leave [the EU] could take two years to
negotiate out, and then another two years to negotiate an agreement
[between Britain and the EU], so there is a time frame there.
“I would like to see a border poll yesterday, but the Taoiseach’s
language was qualified in so far as he said it won’t happen for some
time, but he’s embraced the concept and will make that part of the
Brexit negotiations and that’s good,” Mr Adams said.
He said he does not know what is behind Fine Gael and Fianna Fail’s
“change of heart” on the issue, but said he welcomed the move from
“outright rejection to embrace”.
Asked how a referendum could be brought forward when James Brokenshire
has already ruled it out, Mr Adams added: “Sometimes secretaries of
state on their first day can be very, very short sighted. That was
never going to be his or her decision, that is a decision for his and
her governments. It was always above the pay scale of the secretary of
state.”