Brexit and Northern Ireland: the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union

McCann, Gerard; Hainsworth, Paul

doi:10.1080/07907184.2016.1243530

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Firstly, during the Brexit referendum campaign, the main unionist and nationalist parties took opposing positions. The largest unionist party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), campaigned for the UK to leave the EU, whilst Sinn Fein, the largest nationalist party, wanted it to remain (McCann and Hainsworth, 2017). Secondly, the UK’s 2017 Westminster general election resulted in a Theresa May-led conservative minority administration supported by the DUP.…”

Section: Brexit and The Bordermentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen preferences about border arrangements in divided societies: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Northern Ireland

Morgan-Jones

Sudulich

Cochrane

et al. 2020

Research & Politics

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Border arrangements are often critical to the successful negotiation of peace settlements and the broader politics of post-conflict societies. However, developing an understanding of popular preferences about these arrangements is difficult using traditional surveys. To address this problem, we used a conjoint survey experiment to assess preferences about post-Brexit border arrangements in Northern Ireland. We mapped areas of convergence and divergence in the preferences about post-Brexit border arrangements of unionist and nationalist communities, simulated the degree of public support for politically plausible outcomes and identified the border arrangements that both communities could agree upon. In so doing, we outlined an empirical approach to understanding public preferences about border arrangements that could be used to understand the degree of support for similar institutional arrangements in other divided societies.

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Section: Brexit and The Bordermentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen preferences about border arrangements in divided societies: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Northern Ireland

Morgan-Jones

Sudulich

Cochrane

et al. 2020

Research & Politics

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“…While the referendum campaign in Northern Ireland was dominated by discussion on the economic implications for a fragile post-conflict economy, the loss of the open land border on the island and the impact on the peace process; in the rest of the UK the Irish border was hardly discussed during the referendum campaign, nor did it feature in the initial post-referendum statements of the UK government. 22 A major speech by Prime Minister Theresa May in January 2017 referred to the relationship between the UK and Ireland but only as a commitment to 'the maintenance of the Common Travel Area with the Republic'. 23 The UK government made it clear that they wished to leave both the EU single market and the customs union, and ruled out free movement of labour with the EU.…”

Section: Negotiating the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement-the Changing Intmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…36 Theresa May in a bid to secure a larger majority for her negotiation strategy with the European Union called a general election in June 2017. However, the result weakened her position as the British Conservatives failed to secure a majority in the new parliament and in order to form a government, they reached an agreement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) who 32 Council of The European Union, Directives for the negotiation of an agreement with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal from the European Union, published 22 37 If no long-term trade deal has been agreed by the end of 2020 (or by the end of the agreed extension period), then a backstop consisting of 'a single customs territory between the (European) Union and the United Kingdom' would be triggered. In this case Northern Ireland would remain aligned with the rules and regulations of the EU single market, even if the regulatory framework in place in the rest of the UK deviated from that of the EU, in order to avoid regulatory checks on the Irish border.…”

Section: Negotiating the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement-the Changing Intmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brexit and the changing international and domestic perspectives of sovereignty over Northern Ireland

Connolly¹,

Doyle²

2019

Irish Studies in International Affairs

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This article argues that the recognition of sovereignty over Northern Ireland, internationally, and within Ireland, has shifted in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum. The framework that governs this relationship between Ireland, the UK and Northern Ireland was redefined with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in 1998. In the altered political circumstances of the Brexit negotiations, this redefinition has produced unanticipated consequences. First, it underpinned the high level of support given to the Irish government and to the provisions of the GFA by the EU as an institution, and by EU member states, manifested in the refusal of the EU to negotiate a land border on the island of Ireland. For the UK this was an unforeseen outcome as its negotiation strategy was based on the EU prioritising the importance of accessing the UK economy over Irish claims under the GFA. Second, the undermining of the political stability and relative consensus created by the GFA has led to a new discourse on Irish unity across the island of Ireland, including on the potential shape of a new Ireland. This is visible in the mainstream media, on social media and in the findings of opinion polls. Whether or not these changes will lead to a united Ireland in the short term is uncertain, but the manner in which the sovereignty of the UK over Northern Ireland is recognised has already undergone a fundamental shift, internationally and within Ireland.

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“…The referendum campaign in Northern Ireland focused predominantly on the implications of Brexit for the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, free movement of people and trade, and the impact of a UK exit on the fragile peace process. The question of EU funding, particularly future access to structural funds, the PEACE Programme and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), also featured in campaign debates (McCann and Hainsworth, 2017). The issue of immigration -which so animated the campaign across England -was not a key talking point in Northern Ireland.…”

Section: Limited Action and Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The EU’s Influence on the Peace Process and Agreement in Northern Ireland in Light of Brexit

Hayward

Murphy

2018

Ethnopolitics

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The UK's withdrawal from the European Union has enormous implications for Northern Ireland. All sides to the Brexit negotiations quickly agreed that it was vitally important to protect the peace process and to uphold the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement. However, the question of how this was to be done quickly became a point over which there were very apparent differences between the two sides; such differences are manifest within Northern Ireland in differing political views regarding European integration and national sovereignty. This paper explores the effects of EU membership on the peace process and the Agreement in light of the Brexit process. It provides an overview of the difficulties and frictions in finding a common approach from Northern Ireland to the European Union and explains how this is manifest in the response to the Brexit referendum of June 2016. It concludes by considering the ways in which the Agreement itself offers means of navigating some of the more thorny issues for Northern Ireland as a result of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

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Brexit and Northern Ireland: the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Citizen preferences about border arrangements in divided societies: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Northern Ireland

Citizen preferences about border arrangements in divided societies: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Northern Ireland

Brexit and the changing international and domestic perspectives of sovereignty over Northern Ireland

The EU’s Influence on the Peace Process and Agreement in Northern Ireland in Light of Brexit

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