Motion no: 29
Conference notes that at the time of writing, the UK has missed the deadline of 29th March to leave the EU and that the terms of its exit and whether it will exit at all remains unclear. Conference agrees however that regardless
of whether or not the UK has left the EU under the terms of Theresa May’s deal; whether or not Article 50 has been extended for a further period; or whether or not a general election
or second referendum in the UK have been called, protecting the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts must remain of paramount importance.
Conference believes that too many people have reduced the impact of the UK exit from the EU on the Island of Ireland to the movement of goods across the border. Conference believes that whilst this represents a serious concern
in terms of the economic effects of the UK exit from the EU, the UK exit from the EU also raises grave issues affecting the day-to-day lives of our members, their families, their communities and the continuing operation of public services.
Conference particularly notes that the UK exit from the EU threatens the key aspects of the Good Friday Agreement relating to equality of citizenship and parity of esteem. A core principle of the Good Friday Agreement is equality of citizenship, with the Agreement recognising it as the birth right of ‘‘the people born of Northern Ireland’’ to identify and
be accepted as Irish or British or both and, accordingly, to hold British or Irish citizenship or both. When considered in light of the equality and parity of esteem provisions within the Agreement, this provides for equal treatment between British and Irish citizens.
Conference believes that the UK exit from the EU will create numerous different categories of citizenship in Northern Ireland, creating borders
between communities that the Good Friday Agreement was meant to bring down.
Conference is concerned that the Common Travel Area, which has been presented as a
solution to maintaining freedom of movement for Irish and British citizens across these Islands after the UK leaves the EU is, in the view of
both the NI Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission,
‘‘written in sand’’.
Conference is further concerned that for non-Irish EU citizens, who work on a cross-border basis, including many that provide vital public services in the areas of health, social care and education, there is uncertainty as to how their right to work in Northern Ireland will be maintained whilst they reside in the Republic of Ireland and vice versa. Conference notes that whilst provision exists for these ‘frontier’ workers within the Withdrawal Agreement and a separate UK Government scheme to secure their right to work has been promised, no details of this scheme have been made publically available.
Conference therefore calls on the incoming Executive Council, in line with the positions articulated by Congress in ‘The Implications
of a No-Deal Brexit’ (Spring 2019), to continue to campaign in Dublin, Belfast, London and Brussels, in conjunction with affiliates and our allies in the equality and human rights sectors, the TUC and ETUC for:
• legislation to be passed in the UK and the Republic of Ireland that guarantees full equality for both Irish and British citizens in the rights they can access across these Islands and which recognises the particular status of Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland, to protect equality of citizenship under the Good Friday Agreement;
• an international legally binding treaty between the UK and Ireland to fully clarify and protect the rights of British and Irish citizens under the Common Travel Area, including the right to work and access public services across different jurisdictions;
• a transparent scheme to protect the rights of EU frontier workers in Northern Ireland without delay.
