Irish church leaders urge politicians to show ‘urgency and generosity’ in Brexit talks

The statement from leading Irish Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Catholic and Methodist clerics comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the head of the EU told their chief negotiators over the weekend to get back together and push “intensively” to strike a post-Brexit trade deal before time runs out in a matter of weeks.

Mr Johnson has set a deadline of October 15, when EU leaders meet again in Brussels. If there is no trade deal by then, many fear a cliff-edge departure would hurt the economies on both sides and put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk.

Mr Johnson is pressing to push legislation through Parliament which could avoid a customs border between Northern Ireland and GB. However, the move has angered non-unionist NI parties, the Republic of Ireland and the EU, who see it as being in breach of the previous UK-EU Brexit settlement.

“With limited time remaining to prepare for the outworking of Brexit, it is in everyone’s interests to achieve the clarity and security an agreement will provide,” Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Rev John McDowell, said on behalf of the churches.

“This is especially true for those whose resources are already stretched by the impact of Covid-19.

“We do not underestimate the challenges faced by the negotiating parties in terms of the complexity and the significance of what is at stake. As church leaders on the island of Ireland, we have welcomed the important commitment of both parties in the negotiations to the protection of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in all its parts. It is our hope that the agreement might serve as a source of inspiration and a foundation to build upon as we continue to work through the Brexit process.

“The preamble of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement is a powerful reminder that it is relationships that make agreements operational. The signatories committed to ‘the achievement of reconciliation, tolerance, and mutual trust and to the protection of the human rights of all’.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has further heightened their awareness of the need to manage risk collaboratively, not only between Britain and Ireland, but on a European and international level, the leaders said.

They added: “We appeal to the negotiating parties to act with urgency and generosity to secure the best possible foundation for that evolving relationship by giving much needed certainty on the economic and social implications, and providing a framework within which future challenges can be addressed on the basis of relationships of trust and mutual respect.”

The statement was also signed by Presbyterian Moderator Rev Dr David Bruce, Methodist President Rev Tom McKnight, Roman Catholic Archbishop Rev Eamon Martin and Rev Dr Ivan Patterson of the Irish Council of Churches.

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