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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
3 0 Nov/Dec 2016
O
N SUNDAY 28th August Dublin’s Croke Park
hosted the all-Ireland football semi-final
between Dublin and Kerry, with Dublin
emerging victorious. As celebrations were
taking place around Dublin that evening
another significant event was taking place in the city.
Prominent representatives from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael,
Republican Sinn Féin and Sinn Féin assumed their places
on the platform in the Royal College of Surgeons for a
debate titled 'Brexit-what does this mean for the North?'.
The debate which was organised by the 1916 Clubs took
place in a fitting venue in this the centenary year, having
been one of the garrisons of Easter week in 1916 which
was held by the Irish Citizen Army under Michael Mallin
and Constance Markievicz. All the speakers were given
ten minutes to outline their argument before the debate
was opened to the floor for questions and answers. The
original participants included representatives from the
SDLP and Traditional Unionist Voice who failed to mate
-
rialise on the night, and a representative from the UUP
who withdrew hours beforehand mysteriously citing
“irreconcilable differences”. The DUP had previously
refused to send a speaker, leading RSF President Des
Dalton to open his remarks with: “I had looked forward
to engaging with them on ideas about the future direc
-
tion of the Irish people as a whole… It is sad that Unionist
representatives could not take their rightful place here
tonight to debate issues vital to the future of all Irish
people”. However, minus the SDLP and unionist parties,
the debate got underway as organiser (and founder
member of the 1916 Clubs) Oisín Mac Giolla Mheana out-
lined the governing rules of the debate stating that it
would take place on the basis of ‘mutual respect’.
Return of a hard border?
On 23 June this year 55.8 % of voters in Northern Ireland
opted for ‘Remain’ in the Brexit referendum; despite this
result, come late March 2017 it is due to be led out of the
European Union as Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is trig
-
gered by British Prime Minister Theresa May. The DUP
advocated a ‘Leave’ position as did Irish Republican par-
ties such as Republican Sinn Féin and Éirígí. A quick
survey of the Falls road in Belfast will reveal worn and
wind-battered ‘Vote Leave’ posters belonging to Éirígí,
stating “Vote Leave for independence, for democracy,
for freedom, for Europe, for Peace”. The constitutional
position of the North has led to widespread speculation
on the return of a ‘hard border’ with the South of Ireland.
Although Sinn Féin campaigned for a Remain vote, upon
the announcement of a Leave victory Sinn Féin described
the result as an opportunity and immediately called for
a border poll on Irish unity. During the Dublin debate
Sinn Féin speaker Matt Carthy MEP argued that “consti-
tutional change is now in the hands of the people of the
North and South”. Carthy’s arguments echo those of the
Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
Martin McGuinness who has asked that the views of the
majority of people in the North, who voted for Remain,
be respected and has argued that the North should be
exempt from Brexit.
The democratic will of
Northern Ireland
Throughout the debate speakers’ arguments were col-
lectively couched in language of ‘democracy’,
‘sovereignty’ and ‘mandate’. Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy
argued: “I’ve spent my life hearing you must respect the
democratic wishes of the people of the North. I say that
right back. We must now uphold that”.
Carthy proceeded to cite the Good Friday Agreement
stating that it was endorsed by 71% of people in the
North of Ireland. Interestingly, Carthy’s arguments
appeared to suggest that Brexit is not compatible with
the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The words ‘construc-
tive ambiguity’ are often used, particularly in academic
narratives regarding the Good Friday Agreement, sug-
gesting that it contained necessary ambiguity; however,
the Agreement does not contain ambiguity. The consent
principle established clearly that the North of Ireland will
remain within the UK until the majority of people within
Northern Ireland decide otherwise. Any ambiguity that
was present existed regarding the way in which the
nationalist and unionist blocs sold the agreement to
their respective bases. It is therefore unsurprising that
while Matt Carthy and Martin McGuinness are calling for
a border poll, the DUP’s Nigel Dodds has rejected any
stalling over the triggering of article 50 and has stated
“on 23 June, the British people as a whole gave a clear
mandate for the UK government to leave the EU”.
North parties agree
Brexit practicalities
not strategy
An overlooked debate in Croke Park drew wide-
ranging visions, though no Unionists (or SDLP)
by Marisa
McGlinchey
Brexit has
arguably opened
a debate on the
constitutional
position of the
North but has
simultaneously
re-emphasised the
supreme authority
of the British
government
POLITICS
Nov/Dec 2016 3 1
Who holds the power?
But Remain campaigners are not taking defeat
quietly and recently a cross-party group (Sinn
Féin, SDLP, Alliance and the Green Party) initi-
ated a legal challenge against Brexit stating that
the North of Ireland has a veto over any consti-
tutional change; a veto which they argue
emanates from the Good Friday Agreement.
Brexit has arguably opened a debate on the con-
stitutional position of the North but has
simultaneously re-emphasised the supreme
authority of the British government’s legislative
powers in the North of Ireland, leaving political
figures such as McGuinness powerless to inter
-
vene, thus resurrecting old antagonisms
regarding where power really resides in relation
to the North. Republican Sinn Féin President Des
Dalton argued that ultimately: “the vote that
counted is the one in England. Brexit demon
-
strates the fundamental highly undemocratic
nature of the UK”. The RSF President framed
Brexit around issues of sovereignty and inde
-
pendence and rejected Provisional Sinn Féin’s
calls for a Six County border poll stating that it
would “fly in the face of Republicanism”. The tra-
ditional Republican position rejects a Six County
vote on unity, arguing that it is tantamount to a
unionist ‘veto’ and argues instead that the unit
of decision-making should be on an all-Ireland
basis.
The unit of determination regarding Irish unity
has assumed a central point of antagonism and
division in the contemporary political period.
During the Hume-Adams dialogue of the late
1980s Provisional Sinn Féin rejected the SDLP
leader’s argument regarding what would become
the consent principle. In correspondence to
Adams, Hume stated: “Whether or not the union-
ists may or may not have a right to a veto on Irish
unity, they in reality possess such a veto” (SDLP
correspondence to Sinn Féin, St Patrick’s Day
1988). Sinn Féin’s response rejected the notion
of self-determination on a Six County basis and
emphasised “the right of the Irish people as a
whole to self-determination” (Sinn Féin corre-
spondence to SDLP, 18th March 1988). However,
the Provisional Sinn Féin party subsequently
came to accept the consent principle thus pro-
viding the background to current calls from the
party for a Sixcounty border poll. Theresa May
has stated that, post-Brexit, the conditions for a
border poll still do not exist, a point also made
by the Fianna Fáil speaker Darragh O’Brien.
Sinn Féin versus Fianna Fáil
From early in the debate it was evident which
parties were in direct electoral competition in
the South of Ireland i.e. Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.
This dynamic was recounted in a piece by The
Irish Times on 29th August which cited remarks
between the two speakers including the accusa-
tion by Darragh O’Brien of Fianna Fáil that Sinn
Féin’s call for a border poll was a ‘knee jerk reac
-
tion’ to Brexit. During the debate Darragh
O’Brien, Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on foreign
affairs and trade, argued that ‘for four decades
Sinn Féin opposed Europe in everything’. Fur-
ther, O’Brien labelled Sinn Féin’s calls for a
border poll a ‘stunt’ arguing that a referendum
should be called when it is clear that a vote will
pass and argued that at present there is no evi
-
dence to suggest that this is the case. In contrast,
Fianna Fáil have called for the establishment of
a broad-based civic forum and have cited cross-
border bodies as of potential use to analysing
Brexit and what it means for Ireland. In a swipe
at Sinn Féin, O’Brien stated “there is no other
agenda at play here. We are not trying to bounce
them into border polls etc”.
Irish Unity?! Perhaps not,
let’s re-join the British
Commonwealth?
The largely overlooked debate on 28 August pro-
vides a unique lens through which to view
relations between the parties present, the lan-
guage in which they framed their arguments and
the interaction between the various representa-
tives on Brexit. While speakers broadly agreed
on points such as opposing a ‘hard border’ or
advocating calls for increased cross-border co-
operation, it emerged that each party framed the
issue of Brexit and its implications for the North
very differently, subsequently presenting vastly
alternative strategies for the future - ranging
from Irish unification to re-joining the British
The Republican Sinn Féin President rejected
Provisional Sinn Féin’s calls for a Six County
border poll. The traditional Republican
position rejects a Six County vote on unity, as
tantamount to a unionist veto
Republican Sinn Féin President Des Dalton
