Editor’s Note:

“Pleased to meet you…Can ya guess my name”

Brexit Was Never In The Interests of the DUP and Unionists of Northern Ireland: The DUP Should Reverse Themselves on Brexit

Ever since the 2017 election when Theresa May went to the people to obtain a mandate to deliver a hard Brexit but was instead returned with a minority government, Norther Ireland has provided cover for the UK’s weak bargaining position and the Tories’ weak mandate.

May’s redlines brought Northern Ireland to the forefront of the Brexit debate as leaving the Single Market in the manner which would be needed to pacify her party’s Brexiteers would immediately bring any deal into conflict with the Good Friday Agreement.

Northern Ireland was only an after-thought to the Tories as the Good Friday Agreement continues to be for them

What May’s position also did however, was provide cover for MPs. Mostly, Tory Remain MPs who oppose Brexit, and who knew that May’s infamous red lines would not only result in a bad deal but would also be irreconcilable with the Good Friday Agreement. What they also knew is that their party colleagues in the ERG would kill May’s deal, something, they were not prepared to do themselves. Only a no deal Brexit would allow them to oppose Brexit publicly. 

To May’s credit, she at least did not play politics with the Good Friday Peace Agreement and attempted to limit the risks to it.To alleviate the concerns of Irish Nationalists she focused on goods, added the backstop and to allay the fears of the Unionists she made the backstop UK wide. 

In essence, she was hoping eliminating free movement of peoples from the EU (save Ireland) would be enough and that checks on the Irish border would never be necessary, but, her failure was in not pursuing emergency breaks, opt outs for the United Kingdom when it came to service industries and some aspects of international trade deals, and finally, in not realising that the debate on Northern Ireland would continue to haunt the Brexit debate in that the choice would be infrastructure barriers on the border (unacceptable to Irish Nationalists) or a UK wide back stop (unacceptable to her ERG MPs). 

Result was that Labour voted against it on the basis that they thought it was a bad deal while the Tory ERG voted against it because they thought it not to be Brexit at all. 

Little did we all know Boris Johnson would do worse to the Good Friday Agreement and any good faith that arose from it. 

Tory Remainers however voted for Boris Johnson’s deal as they did for May’s deal. 

It seems Tory Remainers  are willing to give a green light to any deal even if it risks the Good Friday Agreement regardless of whether it would violate undertakings made to the Nationalists or Unionists. No discrimination here, just irresponsibility. A no deal situation would not be acceptable however, simply because, there would be no escaping of responsibility for the ensuing negative consequences.  

ERG members being even braver are willing to accept even a no deal scenario to achieve Brexit. The Conservative and Unionist Party as a whole really do put party and power ahead of country.

This generation of Tories do not comprehend the importance of  an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic not only in terms of goods or people but in being free from seeking the administrative approval of a government body or bureaucrat and to choose one’s identity. And now the Boris Johnson deal is ready to risk the ire and peace process by putting forward a Brexit deal which the Unionists cannot possibly accept for exactly the same reasons. 

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) should never have supported any form of Brexit.

The DUP’s voters’ interests remain in ensuring that Northern Ireland continues to be part of the United Kingdom until, should it ever come to pass, that the different communities of the Northern Irish nation are ready to see themselves as part of the Republic of Ireland after a democratic and legal referendum. Until that time, the interests of the DUP and their constituents reside in preserving the Good Friday Peace Agreement and in getting Stormont working again.

Boris Johnson throwing them under a bus to remain in Downing Street only proves the DUP should reverse themselves on Brexit, as a bad deal or even a no deal Brexit risks the peace achieved twenty years ago and prematurely and dangerously puts Norther Ireland on a path toward reunification with Ireland. It also potentially gridlocks Stormont for the duration of not only the current Brexit saga but for the duration of any future trade negotiations with the EU.    

Direct rule from London will only worsen the current situation.

Sinn Fein should drop demand to grant Irish language official status. 

The DUP should agree to reopening Stormont on their part in exchange for Sinn Fein dropping their demand to grant the Irish language official status. 

Such a policy in the wrong hands, as it inevitably always ends up in, will eventually create a resentment between the two communities great enough to hinder not only the day to day governing of Northern Ireland but the day to day living let alone any peaceful permanent settlement.

The divisions this policy would cause will eventually, even if Sinn Fein is successful in reunifying the island of Ireland, create the circumstances that will enable a Home Secretary in the mould of Priti Patel to argue that the Common Travel Area is no longer necessary. 

So no, Brexit is neither in the interests of the Unionists or Nationalists and perhaps both have learnt that if a referendum does ever come in Northern Ireland what they can both say at this time when Stormont is reopened, is that 50% + 1 is not enough either side of the question.