Good Friday Agreement review: Border poll ‘must be on the table too’ says DUP MP Ian Paisley

By Philip Bradfield
Published 28th Apr 2023, 09:28 BST
Updated 28th Apr 2023, 10:20 BST
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​​If the Good Friday Agreement is to be reviewed, then the question of any future poll on NI's place in the Union must also be on the table, a DUP MP has insisted.

Ian Paisley was speaking after a new survey found that 55% of people in NI believe big changes are required to the power-sharing structures created by the Good Friday Agreement.

“As I stated in my speech at QUB recently it is very clear to me that unionists are out of love with the agreement and its institutions,” Mr Paisley said.

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“The reasons for this are varied and complex but the current government by its conduct is doing nothing to entice unionists to embrace institutions that cannot work.

DUP MP Ian Paisley ​says that if the Good Friday Agreement is to be reviewed, then the question of any future poll on NI's place in the Union must also be on the table.DUP MP Ian Paisley ​says that if the Good Friday Agreement is to be reviewed, then the question of any future poll on NI's place in the Union must also be on the table.
DUP MP Ian Paisley ​says that if the Good Friday Agreement is to be reviewed, then the question of any future poll on NI's place in the Union must also be on the table.

“I also alluded to the fact that if the agreement is to be changed then we are back into a negotiation process and that means everything is on the table including any future referendum on the future place of NI.

“I would insist on weighted turnouts and weighted majorities to reflect the complex and dynamic make up of Northern Ireland's population. If government wishes to push this issue then so be it.”

His comments come after Rishi Sunak warned this month that nothing in Northern Ireland has ever been achieved “by trying to get round one community” and that talks about reforming the GFA “can only happen if it attracts widespread consent”.

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His comments echoed an almost identical warning from Tony Blair recently. He said that there is a case for reviewing the Good Friday Agreement, “but the realistic truth is if you were to act, for example, in direct contravention of a large part of unionist opinion, it wouldn’t work, it just wouldn’t work”.