Brexit: Northern Ireland ‘can rejoin EU if it votes for reunification’

If Northern Ireland opts for reunification it would have the ability to join the European Union as part of the Republic after Brexit, a leaked ministerial letter has indicated. Unlike Scotland, which has been told it could be forced to join a queue for membership of the bloc if the country votes for independence, the province would not have to reapply for EU membership, as the Republic is already one of the existing member states. According to The Times in a leaked letter to an SDLP MP, David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, wrote: “If a majority of the people of Northern Ireland were ever to vote to become part of a united Ireland the UK Government will honour its commitment to enable that to happen.”

We are rapidly approaching the point where Northern Ireland will not have an agreed budget. This is not sustainable.

James Brokenshire, Northern Ireland secretary

If polls show support for a reunification referendum then the Good Friday Agreement stipulates the UK Government is legally obliged to offer one. It comes after the power sharing agreement at Stormont collapsed on Monday with James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland Secretary, saying it was “extremely disappointing”. But he said there was no appetite for another round of devolved assembly elections, adding there was still a narrow wind of “a short few weeks” in which a government could be formed. In the meantime, the province’s civil servants are preparing to take over the budget and allocation of resources to public services.