Sovereignty and the
Brexit Negotiations
Gerry O'Shea
Sovereignty was at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Treaty
negotiations that took place in London in the fall of 1921. Who would exercise
political power in the proposed new state? The Irish delegates, led by Arthur
Griffith and Michael Collins, wanted complete freedom from Great Britain, but
Lloyd George and his colleagues demanded limitations on the power of the
emerging new government in Dublin. In particular, they insisted that members of
the new parliament would take an oath of allegiance to the English monarch.
This limitation on Irish sovereignty whereby Irish
revolutionaries who had sworn allegiance to an Irish republic would have to
sign a document stating their subservience to the Crown was the main cause of
the disastrous civil war in Ireland in 1922 and 1923.
The issue of Irish sovereignty is still at the heart of the
Brexit negotiations that have engulfed the British leadership since their
referendum to leave the European Union passed in the summer of 2016. The
plebiscite to get out of the EU was driven by a belief that Britain had yielded
far too much power to Brussels. While the vote to leave was soundly defeated in
Scotland and Northern Ireland, the "Leave" ballots in England and Wales carried the proposal over
the line for a narrow victory.
In the political maneuvering before the Anglo-Irish
Agreement nearly a hundred years ago, the Unionist community in the North
asserted their position by arming and threatening all-out war if they were
forced to give allegiance to any kind of unitary government in Dublin. They
successfully persuaded the British leaders in Westminster to legislate for a
parliament in Belfast, subject, of course, to the sovereign government in
London - a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people.
Where do they stand now that the rest of the island, the
Irish Republic, is fully committed to membership in the European Union? Despite the clear vote in Northern Ireland
against leaving Europe, they must support the breach with Brussels, Brexit, in
order to maintain their constitutional ties to London. Their core belief centers on their sovereignty as part of the
United Kingdom which their leaders assert is "the reddist of red
lines" and cannot be compromised.
Brexit has to mean exactly the same for Belfast as for Birmingham.
However, they no longer have an army to assert their
prerogatives, and they don't have a strong hand in a game that now includes
European leaders, who are not impressed by religious or tribal affiliations
that counted in past eras.
A century ago the
central Unionist argument against full Home Rule for Ireland was summarized in
the slogan that Home Rule would be Rome Rule, an assertion that proved
prescient because in the new state that emerged in Ireland the Catholic
leadership had an effective veto on all legislation.
Today in an Ireland with liberal abortion laws and same-sex
marriage on the books and the Catholic church in disarray even a staunch
Orangeman could not point a finger of interference at any bishop.
The nationalist population in the North constitute more than
40% and most children in the primary schools come from non-Unionist families.
The Belfast Agreement, which ended the Troubles, includes a clear statement
that the British Government will withdraw completely from Ireland when a
majority in the Six Counties vote for that.
European leaders fully support the Irish Government's
position that whatever Brexit agreement is worked out cannot involve a hard
border between both parts of the island. There won't be a return to checkpoints
or any kind of physical infrastructure. The British Prime Minister has also
signed off on this principle - as indeed have Unionist leaders.
Nobody wants to go back to the bad old days, but they face a
major conundrum, which is bedeviling the whole Brexit negotiations. After
Britain departs from Europe - scheduled for March next year - the island of
Ireland will have two jurisdictions. British sovereignty will extend to the
310-mile border with the Irish Republic; the rest of the country will continue
to follow European laws and directives.
The Unionist leaders, always suspicious of a British
sell-out, have become increasingly dogmatic in their demand that any
negotiation must guarantee that Northern Ireland will be treated exactly the
same as England or Wales. Their strongest argument is an emotional one that
hearkens back to an earlier era and still resonates with many hard-line Tories
but has little meaning for the majority of Britons.
The backdrop to all
the Brexit discussions includes regular talk about the economy in Northern
Ireland. Unionist politicians wince when they are told that the economy in
their corner of the United Kingdom is justifiably viewed as a long-term basket
case, drawing over ten billion pounds sterling more from the British Exchequer
annually than it contributes.
On an individual
basis people in Northern Ireland get about 30% more in monetary benefits from
the Westminster coffers than the average for English citizens. Predictably, polls
show that British voters do not approve of these hefty subsidies for Northern
Ireland and confirm the view expressed by many commentators that the Brexit
shakeout will inevitably lead to serious questions about sovereignty issues.
Another economic dimension of Brexit emerges from the fact
that no less than 60% of farm incomes in the North comes from Brussels. Will
the British taxpayer take on this extra burden?
The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, claims that the
negotiations for a clean British exit from Europe are close to completion,
except for what is called the backstop, which is an agreed position of last
resort, protecting an open border on the island of Ireland in the event that
the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a wider agreement. That is
the elephant in the room!
The Treaty settlement almost a hundred years ago led to the
Irish Civil War; the outcome of the backstop talks over the next few months could
be just as momentous.
Comments
Post a Comment