Sinn Fein: Brexit deal may lead to united Ireland poll
A Sinn Fein official has warned that the UK’s long, agonizing struggle with Brexit may lead to a referendum on a united Ireland within five years – opening a way for the disintegration of the UK itself.
Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill expressed on Tuesday an urgent need to prepare for a border vote, comparing Brexit to the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification.
She called on major parties to speed up slow-moving political processes, likening the Brexit chaos as the catalyst towards a referendum.
Many unionists have also expressed fear for Northern Ireland’s position in the United Kingdom, branding the government’s approach to Northern Ireland in the Brexit talks as being “despicable” and a “betrayal”.
Last week, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal may open a path for Northern Ireland to merge into a united Ireland.
Under Mr. Johnson’s Brexit, a border would be drawn down the Irish Sea, treating Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland would stay aligned to the EU single market, while keeping it a part of the UK's customs territory.
The DUP said it would be disgraceful to expect any business to complete paperwork for goods being sold in “our country, not a foreign country”.
The Brexit deal under Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, agreed with the EU last week, highlights a hybrid form of governance regarding Northern Ireland. It may push the British-ruled country to unite one day with the Irish Republic.
The prospect of Northern Ireland leaving the UK, possibly followed by Scotland and Wales, may come to fruition in the future. They may take their cue from isolationist Brexiteers who are seeing their own dream of breaking away from the European Union come into reality.
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