During the Stormont campaign( Northern Ireland Election 5 May), the DUP has repeatedly claimed that if Sinn Fein wins a majority, They will dare to work for a referendum on Irish unity. Sinn Fein, meanwhile, has focused on the cost-of-living and health care crisis in campaign. Significant changes have occurred in society since “Brexit”, which was not the will of the people but was imposed on Northern Ireland.
What is Brexit, and how did it start?
The term Brexit, coined by former lawyer Peter Wilding, is a blend of two words – “Britain” and “exit”. He wrote about “Brexit” in May 2012. As the name suggests, the United Kingdom’s divorce from the European Union is known as Brexit. The UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973, which then became part of the European Union when it was created in 1993. However, the UK always had maintained a distance from the EU. It has its currency – the pound sterling and refrained from joining the Schengen agreement, which removes internal border controls within the EU. The political fraternity in Britain always included people who were opposed to the idea of the EU, and this opposition intensified after the 2008 financial crisis. Immigration from poorer EU states and the fear of refugees from Syria, Africa and the Middle East further intensified scepticism among voters and the politicians.
In 2012, the then-Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hold a referendum on whether the UK should remain in the EU or leave it. He kept his promise, and the UK had the referendum on 23 June 2016. Soon after the result was announced, Cameron resigned. For Britain, Europe is the most crucial source of foreign investment, and its membership in the EU has helped London cement its position as a global financial centre. The United Kingdom benefits from trade deals between the EU and other world powers by being a part of the EU.
The EU exerts more substantial bargaining power as it is the largest economy as a group. Therefore, the UK would lose negotiating power and free trade with other European countries by leaving. As the UK tries to recreate trade deals with other countries, it may get less favourable results. The uncertainty of Brexit also causes volatility and affects businesses operating within the UK.
In the case of a hard Brexit, goods and services will be subject to tariffs, increasing the cost of raw materials into Britain and finished products out. Threats from significant businesses to leave Britain over Brexit have become quite frequent. According to government estimates, the country’s economy would be four to nine per cent smaller under Brexit (subject to how it leaves the bloc). While a successful Brexit could be a boon for the working class that sees immigration as a threat to their jobs, young Britons who dream of studying abroad are apprehensive.
The Brexit aftermath and the Northern Ireland protocol
Special arrangements were needed for Northern Ireland after the UK voted for Brexit in 2016. This is because it’s the only part of the UK with a land border with an EU country – the Republic of Ireland.
Before Brexit, it was easy to transport goods across this border because both sides had the same EU trade rules. No checks or paperwork were necessary. After Brexit, EU- UK needed a new system because the EU has strict food rules and requires border checks when certain goods – such as milk and eggs – arrive from non-EU countries. The border is also a sensitive issue because of Northern Ireland’s troubled political history. Irish feared that cameras or border posts could lead to instability.
The UK and the EU agreed that protecting the 1998 Northern Ireland peace deal – the Good Friday Agreement – was an absolute priority. So, both sides signed the Northern Ireland Protocol as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which is now part of international law. Instead of checking goods at the Irish border, the Northern Ireland protocol agreed that any inspections and document checks would be conducted between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). These take place at Northern Ireland’s ports. UK Government also agreed that Northern Ireland would keep following EU rules on product standards.
Unionist parties support Northern Ireland being part of the UK. They argue that an adequate border across the Irish Sea undermines Northern Ireland’s place within the UK. Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, the Democratic Unionists (DUP), refuses to participate in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government unless its concerns are resolved. Even though the DUP came second in May’s elections to Sinn Fein – a nationalist party which accepts the protocol – Sinn Fein cannot form a new Northern Ireland government without its support. Sinn Fein has accused the unionists of believing they can “hold society to ransom”.
How did Northern Ireland suffer from the stalemate brought by Brexit?
Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to form a new power-sharing administration on Monday until post-Brexit trading rules were overhauled, rebuffing calls from London and Dublin to go back into government quickly. Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), overtook the DUP to win the most seats at elections to the region’s devolved assembly at the weekend, the first time a party seeking to leave the United Kingdom came out on top. Under the terms of a 1998 peace deal that mostly ended three decades of sectarian conflict in the British-controlled province, the leading nationalist and unionist rivals are obliged to share power.
The DUP had pledged not to participate until Britain, and the European Union agreed to lift trade barriers between the province and the rest of the United Kingdom imposed by the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol. It repeated that position after meeting Britain’s Northern Irish minister, Brandon Lewis, on Monday. “We have made clear this morning that until he honours his commitment, we will not be nominating ministers to the executive,” DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told reporters. The election reaffirmed that most lawmakers, including Sinn Fein, favour retaining the protocol designed following Brexit to avoid fraying the EU single market via the open border with Ireland.
While the DUP wants all trade barriers removed, Sinn Fein and others would settle for some easing of the rules. “Any tactics of a delay from the DUP, any gamesmanship from the British government who may wish to use Northern Ireland as a bargaining chip would be intolerable and must not happen,” Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald told a news conference.
Conclusion
All five main political parties in Northern Ireland are opposed to the Withdrawal Agreement, albeit for different reasons. Nationalist parties Sinn Fein, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and the cross-community party Alliance are all opposed to Brexit – although all supported Theresa May’s backstop to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Unionist parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party, had previously supported the UK leaving the EU but are opposed to the Withdrawal Agreement because the Northern Ireland protocol creates additional barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
In January 2020, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted unanimously to withhold consent for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill as required by the Sewel Convention. Besides, Significant changes have occurred since “Brexit”, which was not the will of the people but was imposed on Northern Ireland. So many people are considering the constitution because Brexit of the people of Northern Ireland drove them out of the European Union and robbed us of its citizenship. Many people are now thinking about where they want to be in the future and where they want to be?
