Unionists are again letting nationalists push at an open door as they change the Belfast Agreement, this time over Irish voting rights

The parties to the 1998 Belfast Agreement, endorsed in a referendum, committed themselves to ‘partnership, equality and mutual respect as the basis of relationships within Northern Ireland, between North and South, and between these islands’.

In terms of North and South, the ‘totality of relationships’ was spelled out in detail.

The Republic of Ireland removed its territorial claim on Northern Ireland and, in return, a North/South Ministerial Council was created to oversee co-operation between the two jurisdictions.

The removal of the South’s claim represented official recognition of, and respect for, Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom, as affirmed elsewhere in the agreement.

More than twenty years later, however, the Southern government — backed by nationalists in Northern Ireland — is seeking to re-ignite irredentism by including in its programme for government a referendum on the extension of presidential elections into Northern Ireland.

This is not provided for as part of the totality of north-south relationships.

It was not agreed in 1998, and no agreement with unionists in Northern Ireland or the UK government is being sought.

It is a unilateral breach of the Belfast Agreement.

What was the point of removing a theoretical irredentist claim if it was to be replaced by irredentism in practice?

Proponents of extending the electorate for the Southern president into Northern Ireland argue that it is commonplace for states to allow citizens resident abroad to vote in elections, and particularly presidential elections.

This is disingenuous.

The situation between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is unique.

First, no state in the world other than the Irish Republic extends its citizenship as of right to people born in a particular region of a neighbouring state.

Second, none has entered into a treaty with another state defining the ‘totality of relationships’ with it.

Third, where voting rights are granted to citizens resident abroad it invariably requires them to have lived in the state and have had a home address within the state: this is not the case with people born in Northern Ireland, most of whom have never lived in the Republic.

This is an insidious proposal which will have the effect of promoting further division in Northern Ireland, with a de facto nationalist-only election, and treating the province as though it were part of the Republic.

While the intentions of proponents in the South are not clear, from the perspective of nationalists in Northern Ireland, this is part of a process of re-orienting politics towards the Republic and away from the UK, with a view to undermining people’s sense of belonging to the UK and thus manipulating the context for a future ‘border poll’.

In this sense, it can be seen as part of a strategy that also involves encouraging Southern parties to organise in Northern Ireland, seeking to remove automatic UK citizenship from Northern Ireland people and, of course, promoting an economic border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

It is not surprising that Emma De Souza, who campaigned unsuccessfully to remove automatic UK citizenship has now been appointed as a campaigner for this further nationalist cause.

But why is the proposal being met with indifference from unionists and the UK government? Why is there no protest? Why are nationalists allowed to disrespect the Belfast Agreement, continually pushing the envelope beyond what was agreed? Why are they apparently pushing at an open door?

J. Martin, Belfast BT7

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