Likely next Irish PM calls for Northern Ireland to stay in EU single market

[webfact]

Likely next Irish PM calls for Northern Ireland to stay in EU single market

By Padraic Halpin

REUTERS

 

File Photo - Ireland's Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar launches his campaign bid for Fine Gael party leader in Dublin, Ireland May 20, 2017. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

 

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Northern Ireland should remain in the European Union's single market and retain access to as many EU programmes as possible to ensure the British province secures a soft Brexit, the favourite to succeed Enda Kenny as Irish Prime Minister said on Monday.

 

Northern Ireland, which will represent the only land border between Britain and the EU once Britain leaves the bloc, voted 56 to 44 percent to remain in the EU in last year's referendum but the United Kingdom as a whole voted to leave.

 

British Prime Minister Theresa May advocates making a clean break from the single market of 500 million consumers - a so-called "hard Brexit" that would impact Northern Irish businesses which trade seamlessly across the currently invisible border.

 

Leo Varadkar, who has built up a near insurmountable lead in the contest to succeed Kenny, according to the support declared so far by his Fine Gael party's lawmakers, said he will advocate special arrangements on behalf of Northern Ireland if elected prime minister.

 

"The Irish government has a crucial role to play in advocating for what the people in Northern Ireland voted for which was to remain (in the EU) and while that is not possible, they can have a soft Brexit by staying in as many programmes as possible," Varadkar told a news conference.

 

Other programmes Varadkar would argue for retained access to include Interreg, which provides funding for border areas, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Erasmus EU exchange programme that lets students attend universities across the bloc.

 

He said he was advancing current government policy to seek such special arrangements and this was distinct from opposition calls, including by Northern Ireland's largest nationalist party Sinn Fein, for a granting of "special status" within the EU, which he said was not doable.

 

Varadkar, who has secured the publicly declared backing of almost two-thirds of the party's lawmakers ahead of the June 2 leadership vote, said the island of Ireland needed to prepare for the possibility that a United Ireland or shared sovereignty will occur "in our lifetime".

 

The British government can order a referendum if it appears likely a majority of those voting would seek to unite Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic. Varadkar said he opposed such a poll at this time and indicated that he would favour a vote that required more than a simple majority to pass.

 

"Any change to the constitution status of Northern Ireland shouldn't happen just because there is one more nationalist than unionist, it should only happen when there is a consensus," he said.

 

"Crucially, that consent shouldn't a be a simple majoritarian consensus, it has to be one that commands broader support from both communities in Northern Ireland."

 

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-23

[smedly]

perhaps a better option would be for the ROI to also leave the EU since they do most of their trading with the UK.

[claffey]

58 minutes ago, smedly said:

perhaps a better option would be for the ROI to also leave the EU since they do most of their trading with the UK.

Actually Ireland exports over 30% to EU, 22% TO the US and only 15% to the UK.

 

Many international companies will relocate to Dublin after Brexit because Ireland will be the only English speaking country in the EU. JP Morgan have already announced their move. Dublin already has the European HQ of Facebook, Google, Paypal etc/ So Ireland's future is more secure than Britain's and will benefit from Brexit. Reunification is even a possibility in the not too distant future. So there is no chance of Ireland is even considering leaving the EU.

[Finlaco]

also of interest due to Ireland's Catholic heritage is -  Our next Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in Ireland could be Leo Varadkar and he is gay.

[YetAnother]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Northern Ireland, which will represent the only land border between Britain and the EU once Britain leaves the bloc

is this true ? thought there was water between the 2; english channel swimming and all that

[pegman]

I think the best solution would be a referendum in Scotland and Northern Ireland with one of the options being a merger to form a new country within the EU. 

[ilostmypassword]

2 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

is this true ? thought there was water between the 2; english channel swimming and all that

Britain can mean the UK or the island which contains Wales, England, and Scotland.

 

Britain usually refers to: United Kingdom, a sovereign state; Great Britain, an island; National sports teams of the United Kingdom. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britain

 

[claffey]

40 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

is this true ? thought there was water between the 2; english channel swimming and all that

You thought that there is water between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland!? They are part of the same island ie. Ireland..

[claffey]

39 minutes ago, pegman said:

I think the best solution would be a referendum in Scotland and Northern Ireland with one of the options being a merger to form a new country within the EU. 

Let me get this straight. You are proposing a 'merger' between Northern Ireland and Scotland!!! The funniest thing I've heard in a long time! While we are at it let's merge Spain and Portugal too shall we!! 

[pegman]

1 minute ago, claffey said:

Let me get this straight. You are proposing a 'merger' between Northern Ireland and Scotland!!! The funniest thing I've heard in a long time! While we are at it let's merge Spain and Portugal too shall we!! 

Where do you think the majority of ulster men originally came from other than Scotland?

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Scots_dialects

[ilostmypassword]

3 minutes ago, pegman said:

Where do you think the majority of ulster men originally came from other than Scotland?

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_Scots_dialects

Not just that. The original Celtic settlers of Ireland came from Scotland.

[claffey]

Northern Ireland is divided almost in half by unionists ie. Scottish planters The other half are 'natives' and Irish Catholics. A merger with Scotland is ridiculous and has never being suggested by anyone..

 

..What's more likely in the future is a border poll on unification with the Republic. All of this could lead to violence and a return to the troubles. Something that the Conservative party should have considered before their referendum. 

[claffey]

3 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Not just that. The original Celtic settlers of Ireland came from Scotland.

By your reasoning we should all reunite with ancestors from centuries ago. So what would happen to the Anglo Saxons and Normans. A menage a trois between France, England and Germany? This conversation is ridiculous. 

[ilostmypassword]

6 minutes ago, claffey said:

By your reasoning we should all reunite with ancestors from centuries ago. So what would happen to the Anglo Saxons and Normans. A menage a trois between France, England and Germany? This conversation is ridiculous. 

For me, at least, "ridiculous" was the attraction.

Edited May 23, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[smedly]

8 hours ago, claffey said:

Actually Ireland exports over 30% to EU, 22% TO the US and only 15% to the UK.

 

Many international companies will relocate to Dublin after Brexit because Ireland will be the only English speaking country in the EU. JP Morgan have already announced their move. Dublin already has the European HQ of Facebook, Google, Paypal etc/ So Ireland's future is more secure than Britain's and will benefit from Brexit. Reunification is even a possibility in the not too distant future. So there is no chance of Ireland is even considering leaving the EU.

I do not agree, not sure where you get you figures from but they are wrong, and BTW until two years from now the UK is part of the EU

[Baerboxer]

9 hours ago, claffey said:

Actually Ireland exports over 30% to EU, 22% TO the US and only 15% to the UK.

 

Many international companies will relocate to Dublin after Brexit because Ireland will be the only English speaking country in the EU. JP Morgan have already announced their move. Dublin already has the European HQ of Facebook, Google, Paypal etc/ So Ireland's future is more secure than Britain's and will benefit from Brexit. Reunification is even a possibility in the not too distant future. So there is no chance of Ireland is even considering leaving the EU.

 

Yeah, English speaking and a somewhat "innovative" approach to corporation tax. Win win.

[Baerboxer]

7 hours ago, claffey said:

Northern Ireland is divided almost in half by unionists ie. Scottish planters The other half are 'natives' and Irish Catholics. A merger with Scotland is ridiculous and has never being suggested by anyone..

 

..What's more likely in the future is a border poll on unification with the Republic. All of this could lead to violence and a return to the troubles. Something that the Conservative party should have considered before their referendum. 

 

Why would Cameron and Tories have considered that? The didn't bother considering anything else!

[Baerboxer]

7 hours ago, claffey said:

Northern Ireland is divided almost in half by unionists ie. Scottish planters The other half are 'natives' and Irish Catholics. A merger with Scotland is ridiculous and has never being suggested by anyone..

 

..What's more likely in the future is a border poll on unification with the Republic. All of this could lead to violence and a return to the troubles. Something that the Conservative party should have considered before their referendum. 

 

Note this Irish politician doesn't support a referendum on Northern Ireland leaving the UK and joining the RoI. Maybe he knows what the result would likely be; that the majority aren't interested. I also read Irish articles that suggest many in the Republic are also against joining with NI.

 

Never a black and white situation.

[ilostmypassword]

Here are the figures for Irish imports and exports for the top 10 countries. These numbers originally come from  the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.

As you can see the other EU nations in aggegate easily top trade with both the USA and the UK. Interestingly, Ireland actually imports more from the UK than it exports to the UK. 

 

Irish Exports top 10 countries

 

	Value	Year
United States	$33.41B	2016
United Kingdom	$16.54B	2016
Belgium	$16.25B	2016
Germany	$8.67B	2016
Switzerland	$6.99B	2016
Netherlands	$6.53B	2016
France	$5.54B	2016
China	$3.38B	2016
Spain	$3.26B	2016
Japan	$3.19B	2016

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/exports-by-country

 

 

Irish Imports top 10 nations

	Value	Year
United Kingdom	$18.36B	2016
United States	$12.69B	2016
France	$9.63B	2016
Germany	$7.41B	2016
China	$4.57B	2016
Netherlands	$2.88B	2016
Switzerland	$1.59B	2016
Italy	$1.57B	2016
Belgium	$1.52B	2016
Japan	$1.36B	2016

 

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland/imports-by-country

[pegman]

11 hours ago, claffey said:

Northern Ireland is divided almost in half by unionists ie. Scottish planters The other half are 'natives' and Irish Catholics. A merger with Scotland is ridiculous and has never being suggested by anyone..

 

..What's more likely in the future is a border poll on unification with the Republic. All of this could lead to violence and a return to the troubles. Something that the Conservative party should have considered before their referendum. 

Your wrong. I suggested it myself in post #6 above^^^^^**.