PM Burnam Said the Quiet Part Out Loud

A referendum on Irish reunification is “off the table.” That is what the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnaham, told reporters while on a visit to Belfast in late August. The new Prime Minister recently replaced Kier Stermer, the former Prime Minister, after he was ousted from power by his own Labour Party.

Until Burnham made that comment, it remained unclear how he would handle the issue of Irish reunification. One of Burnham’s first moves as Prime Minister was to oust former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn, who adamantly opposed calling for a border poll or supporting a planning and development process for a new Ireland. Burnham immediately replaced Benn with Chris Bryant MP, a member of the British Labour Party and a Burnham loyalist.

In one of his first interviews after taking the helm as Secretary of State, Bryant gave a very cagy answer to a question on whether a border poll should be considered. It’s “not on my list of priorities at the moment,” he said – essentially signaling that he would wait to see which way the political winds were blowing at 10 Downing Street before deciding where the issue belonged on his agenda.

As of now, he is holding to his position until Burnham tells him where it should fit on his “list of priorities.” Given Burnham’s unvarnished comment in Belfast, Irish unity will not be on the priority list at all.

Burnham’s Comment Condemned

The response to Burnham’s comment was swift and to the point. Michelle O’Neill, the First Minister of Northern Ireland and Vice President of Sinn Féin, said, “[t]he future of Ireland is for the people of this island to decide, and for the people of this island alone… It is not the right of any British Prime Minister to deny our people’s right to self-determination.”

Mary Lou McDonald, TD and President of Sinn Féin, said Burnham’s statement was “divisive and ill-informed, [and flies] in the face of the Good Friday Agreement.” She added later that “[t]he right to a referendum on Irish Unity is a key part of the Good Friday Agreement. It was agreed [to] in referendums and is enshrined in international law.

“It is not a concession in the gift of any British politician. It cannot be casually cast aside or taken off the table and suggesting that it can sends a very dangerous message to those within unionism who are attempting to recreate a past based on division and supremacy.”

Claire Hanna, the head of the Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP), stated that “[the SDLP is] very clear, we stick by the Good Friday Agreement, and the UK Government must as well.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD said Burnham’s comments were “a significant breach of the Good Friday Agreement.” Senator Patricia Stephenson, Foreign Affairs spokesperson for the Social Democrat party in Ireland, said: “Telling the world that Irish unity is off the table shows a colossal level of ignorance towards the North and its people.”

Niall Murphy, Chair of Ireland’s Future, in a correspondence sent to Chris Bryant requested “an urgent meeting to clarify the position of your government” on honoring the Good Friday Agreement and its requirements for a vote of the people of Ireland on the reunification question.”

Burnham Walks It Back

Following a cascade of criticism on his comment the week before, Burnham tried to walk it back. “I will stick one hundred percent to the Good Friday Agreement,” he declared. During the Prime Ministers questions in the House of Commons, Burnham defended himself saying, “I answered a media question on a visit to Northern Ireland before meeting the various parties and the question was that a proposal was being put to the meeting about a border poll…

“[M]y answer was that the purpose of the visit was to get functional government in Stormont because, in my view, that would most serve the people of Northern Ireland right now – and I wasn’t there to distract onto other issues.” A clarification quite different from his unequivocal comment he made only a week before. Had Prime Minister Burnham been paying attention, he would have known that reunification is plainly on the table for people across the island of Ireland—and that they expect it to be addressed.

The People Support a Border Poll

Recent polling conducted by European Movement Ireland revealed that 59% of respondents in the Republic and 63% of respondents in the north would vote in favor of a united Ireland if the referenda were held now. The Irish Minister for foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee TD, stated that “in the future we will have a border poll” and that the United Kingdom and Ireland “need to be prepared” for a border poll to be called.

The framework for calling for a border poll is set out in the Good Friday Agreement. At Schedule 1, Paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Agreement (for those who would like to review all of Article 1), it states that, “The Secretary of State [for Northern Ireland] shall exercise the power under paragraph 1 [to call a referendum, or ‘border poll’] if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.” By operation of law, Ireland would necessarily call for a referendum simultaneous to the United Kingdom’s if a border poll is called.

Burnham’s comment on dismissing a referendum on Irish reunification is telling to say the least. It is not supported by the people as clearly evidenced in the European Movement Ireland poll.

The Taoiseach Should Embrace Planning 

It is not helpful that Taoiseach Micheál Martin shares Burnham’s viewpoint on turning away from government planning for a border poll. Martin emphasizes the continued efforts under the Shared Ireland Initiative, which he initiated, and that Ireland should stay on that course. The Initiative is a good thing and should be pursued.

However, at the same time he also dismisses any efforts to begin planning for a new Ireland. He is steadfast in his belief that reconciliation must occur first in the north before any planning or a border poll can be called.

The Taoiseach’s approach is wrong. It is the actual planning and process for an eventual border poll that leads to reconciliation. It is through a government established citizen planning process in which all traditions are brought together, discussing and debating all the issues that must be addressed prior to a border poll, and allowing the people to arrive at a consensus on the structure of a new Ireland before a border poll is called. It will alleviate the fear and anxiety that some feel towards reunification and bring about the reconciliation Martin so adamantly wants.

Irish America has a role in the current process

We must let the leadership on the island of Ireland know that we support a planning process established by the government that allows all the people on the island to determine how they want a new Ireland to be structured.