[ad_1]
meEverybody has an opinion on Northern Ireland. It is one of the many drawbacks of being from this part of the world. We are a topic of conversation for other people, a topic easily put together to be used and put aside for ulterior motives. Brexit has allowed this to unfold on the international stage. We have become representatives of a culture war. The main players care little about Northern Ireland or the people who live here.
The 20In January 2020, in a pre-Covid world, the Northern Ireland assembly voted to deny consent to the withdrawal agreement. The deal, hailed as a triumph by the British government and the European Union, was rejected by all parties in the assembly. The assembly members had different reasons to vote against the agreement and different agendas, but on this issue they were united. In December 2019, all Northern Ireland MPs in the Westminster parliament voted against the deal.
Despite this, the EU and the British government were not very concerned. Turns out it doesn’t matter if U.S I don’t like the withdrawal agreement. As Northern Ireland picked up the pieces of Brexit, the world kept going.
You can imagine the surprise when Boris Johnson announced his intention to mitigate the Northern Ireland protocol by passing the internal market law. The prime minister appears to have pulled his “oven ready” deal from the container and inspected it for the first time. He says he is now acting to protect the Good Friday deal and avoid a border in the Irish Sea.
But, although it violates international law, the Internal Market Bill does not stop a maritime border. The Good Friday agreement says nothing about a customs border in the Irish Sea or, indeed, a customs border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Johnson, who barely considered Northern Ireland during the Brexit campaign, is not a standard bearer for our peace process. Although he pretends to be concerned about a maritime border, he seems willing to risk a hard border on the island of Ireland. He is pitting one community against the other while disguising himself as a trade unionist.
With the United Kingdom willing to breach its international obligations, the European Union has responded by saying that it is the one who protects the Good Friday agreement. The fact that the assembly did not consent to the withdrawal agreement, that the people in Northern Ireland have serious problems with it, seems not to be in the commission, as it slaps itself on the back. The EU can hardly claim to be an impartial intermediary.
Johnson’s move has led to speeches by US presidential candidate Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and four influential US congressmen. Everyone believes that the internal market law threatens the Good Friday agreement. Pelosi and Biden have said that the British government will not get a trade deal with the United States if it threatens the peace process.
While Biden and Pelosi’s interventions should make the prime minister consider the implications of his actions, they are not helpful. Seemingly dismissing concerns about a maritime border, Biden infuriates unionists. It didn’t help that he endorsed a letter signed by Congressman Peter King, a man with strong Irish Republican sympathies.
Nigel Farage, along with other right-wingers, has accused the presidential candidate of anti-british. No one knows why Biden is being anti-British when talking about protecting the Good Friday deal, which includes a treaty between the UK and Ireland. This is a culture war, boring and useless when it comes to the matter at hand. Northern Ireland is being used to project jingoistic nonsense.
Biden, like Trump and all other US presidents, has only one priority: America. Whoever is sitting in the Oval Office in January of next year will want a trade agreement that furthers America’s interests. The NHS, our food market and the rights of workers will be at stake. Just because Biden is concerned about the Good Friday deal doesn’t mean it’s good for Northern Ireland.
As for the prime minister, his newfound concern for Northern Ireland is ridiculous. They are hanging us and using as bait so that the British government can obtain concessions from the EU. When the government gets what it wants, he and the European Union will leave Northern Ireland to deal with the mess of the withdrawal agreement.
The Good Friday deal was successful because its architects understood that Northern Ireland could only move forward by addressing the concerns of both communities. The agreement created an imperfect peace but, at bottom, it was about building consensus. All of that seems lost in the noise created by Johnson, Biden, Farage and the EU.
Northern Ireland was at the heart of Brexit, exposing its contradictions and throwing already divided communities on both sides of the debate. If people really want to protect and honor the Good Friday deal, they might start by putting self-interest aside. Northern Ireland deserves a future in which both communities feel respected and safe.
[ad_2]