Northern Ireland could be independent within the EU

As phase one of the Brexit agreement with the European Union (EU) goes off to be translated into a legal document we can expect some of the ambiguities therein to be ironed out, and to cause some angst in the process for local political parties.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Dec 2017, 19:08 BST
Updated 20th Dec 2017, 19:56 BST
Stormonts powers could be increased to bolster the Assemblys claim to be an EU member stateStormonts powers could be increased to bolster the Assemblys claim to be an EU member state
Stormonts powers could be increased to bolster the Assemblys claim to be an EU member state

In Brexit, Northern Ireland’s future is at best secondary to the ‘great game’ played out between Westminster and the EU-27.

Arguably an independent Northern Ireland (NI) inside the EU could leverage the 1998 Good Friday or Belfast Agreement (GFBA) to secure full access to the EU market of 500 million consumers, and at the same time securing unfettered tariff-free access to the 50 million consumers in Great Britain (GB) and it to any trade agreements they sign up to.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Arguably it is easier to negotiate this specific trading arrangement for NI than it would be for us to instead leave the EU along with GB and then have to negotiate tariff-free access to the EU-27 through Westminster, which will be entirely focused upon getting a good deal for London and SE England.

Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

But how could we leverage the current architecture of the GFBA to maximise our access to both the EU and GB?

Firstly, the British-Irish Council arguably puts the Northern Ireland Assembly, Irish/Scottish/Welsh government and Westminster on an equal footing, and effectively treats the latter as a de facto English Parliament.

NI would benefit exponentially if we can transform the British-Irish Council into a bespoke version of the Nordic Council, which was founded in 1952 and comprises Greenland, Faroe Islands, Åland, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Members of the Nordic Council (http://www.norden.org/en) each appear to have a different relationship with the European Union (EU) that reflects their own particular needs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Of particular interest to us in NI is that Denmark is in the EU but Greenland, which is an autonomous self-governing region, is not, and instead is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

In the current Brexit context, NI should instead arguably remain inside the EU while Westminster negotiates its own enhanced version of the EEA for Great Britain.

However, NI would arguably benefit more as an independent EU member state and negotiate to inherit the UK’s vacated seat in the Council of Ministers when GB leaves.

Secondly, the North-South Ministerial Council arguably treats the Northern Ireland Assembly and Irish government (Oireachtas) as equals and its powers should be increased to bolster the Assembly’s claim to be an EU member state in our own right, and also reinforce our access to the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At the very least our political parties should critically examine the case for an independent – or an autonomous self-governing – NI inside the EU to determine what benefits and liabilities might accrue from this status.

In short, is it time to take back control?

Bernard J. Mulholland, Malone Road, Belfast BT9

Related topics:Northern IrelandBrexit