There is 'no chance Ireland would be neutral' in a border poll - and the UK government would have to back the Union

If the Irish government campaigned for Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom in a border poll, the British government would have to do likewise on behalf of the union, Lord Empey has said.

The Ulster Unionist peer was reacting to comments by the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, in which he said that the offices of state should remain neutral in a referendum.

placeholder image — Lord Empey - a unionist negotiator during the 1998 Belfast Agreement - says Ireland's stance would force the UK to campaign to maintain the Union.

Alex Burghart also said the Conservative Party would campaign to keep the United Kingdom together.

However, Reg Empey, a unionist negotiator of the Belfast Agreement, says that the UK government would in reality have to become involved on the pro-Union side.

“While all this is hypothetical, the reality is likely to be different.

“There is no chance of the Irish Government being neutral on this issue. Its in their DNA to campaign for a United Ireland, but the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement ensures that only the people of Northern Ireland can determine their own future.

“In circumstances where the Irish Government is campaigning for a United Ireland, the UK Government would be obliged to campaign for the Union”, Lord Empey told the News Letter.

During an interview on the BBC’s ‘Borderland: UK or United Ireland’ podcast, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary also declined to be drawn on what the criteria should be for the calling of a referendum.

Nationalists and Alliance have urged the current Secretary of State Hilary Benn to set out the terms on which a vote would happen – despite there being no provision in the 1998 accord for that.

It says that the Secretary of State can call a border poll if it appears likely that a majority in Northern Ireland would vote for leaving the UK. Asked for his view on the matter, Mr Burghart said: “I’m not going to give you a precise answer at this time”.

“However, if one were to take opinion polls as the marker, it seems very clear that the threshold has not been reached – and I think that’s what Hilary Benn has said on the subject”, he added.

Mr Benn previously warned that basing the decision on opinion polls would not work, because people would then focus on shaping those poll results.