In our latest instalment of ‘Ask the Expert’, we were joined by Colin Harvey, Professor of Human Rights Law, Queen’s University Belfast who explored one of the most current topics of conversation – Brexit and Northern Ireland.
In our latest instalment of ‘Ask the Expert’, we were joined by Colin Harvey, Professor of Human Rights Law, Queen’s University Belfast who explored one of the most current topics of conversation – Brexit and Northern Ireland.
“The difficulties in Northern Ireland are an embodiment of the tensions that are at the heart of the entire Brexit conversation
Professor Harvey made aware that:
- Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU and the remain vote has risen since.
- Democratic Unionist Party & Sinn Féin are split on the issue of Brexit.
- Brexit is occurring without a government in Northern Ireland being in place.
- The final stages of a bill going through Parliament raises significant constitutional questions about governance.
- Northern Ireland is in a state of constitutional crisis right now.
- The scale of anxiety surrounding Brexit uncertainty in Northern Ireland is sharp and severe.
- The handling of the backstop protocol by the Westminster government was misjudged and ill-advised.
- We are where we are as a direct consequence of the approach of the government to the Brexit conversation and the sort of Brexit it appears to seem to want.
Before Brexit, Northern Ireland was already in a fragile state and what Brexit has done is de-stabilise it even further. Professor Harvey addressed the talk across three themes: 1) the context of Northern Ireland, 2) where we are now in terms of discussions and 3) what is next.
Context
When thinking about the context of the conversation that is happening at the moment, Professor Harvey underlined the importance of the multi-stranded nature of the Good Friday Agreement. He also stated that EU membership was a common background assumption of the entire peace process. The major context was that the peace process in Northern Ireland is a proud legacy of both governments and of the EU, which can be seen on both parts as a strong incentive to do everything possible to stabilise Northern Ireland’s situation.
Where we are in terms of discussion
We are in the middle of an on-going negotiation. A big focus of the discussion is on the December 2017 joint report from the negotiators which includes an extensive number of paragraphs on:
- Northern Ireland and Ireland.
- The importance of continuing North & South cooperation.
- Avoiding a hard border.
- The significance of protecting the Good Friday Agreement.
Professor Harvey highlighted that what’s been missing from the discussion so far is human rights and equality protections, as well as protection around citizenship.
A lot of attention in the discussion has been on the backstop guarantee and the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland in the draft withdrawal agreement. The protocol has been criticised around its impact on the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK and Professor Harvey’s question here was whether that reaction to the protocol was merited.
There has been agreement that Northern Ireland’s differentiated solution to dealing with Brexit could be justified and at a negotiator level, there has been plenty of agreement within the withdrawal agreement.
So, what is next?
Professor Harvey made clear that if the withdrawal agreement is adopted then the idea that this all ends in March is a joke – the architecture and protocol will live with us for years ahead. Major challenges and questions can be expected to arise about operationalising the institutions and mechanisms in the withdrawal agreement. Both governments must work closely together with international and EU support to repair the relationships that have been deteriorating, and a change of tone of the current debate surrounding Brexit and Northern Ireland is needed.
Bottom Line
One thing policy-makers should take from Professor Harvey’s work: There is merit for having a special arrangement for Northern Ireland. One common mistake in popular debate Professor Harvey would like to correct: The failure to understand the Northern Ireland context and the implications of the Good Friday Agreement in Brexit discussions.