Northern Ireland will quit UK over Brexit says Sinn Fein leader in incendiary claim
NORTHERN IRELAND will leave the UK because of Brexit according to an incendiary claim by Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Brexit debacle 'was a mess' says Mary Lou McDonald
The republican party sensationally took the most votes in the Irish general election earlier this month. It beat Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Ireland’s traditional governing parties, into second and third places respectively.
Ms McDonald also declined to explicitly condemn the violence of the IRA, which Sinn Fein had historic links to, though she insisted she doesn’t want violence to return.
Speaking to The Times she claimed Brexit was driven by “the lowest common denominator of English nationalism”.
She commented: “People in the north of Ireland didn’t consent to Brexit.
“It is not their democratic wish, they are being coerced into this position, so I think what he has done and what Brexit has done is to write up in the starkest terms the undemocratic nature of the partition of our island.
“It leaves the population, the economy, the provision of services entirely at the whim of a Tory government and the Tories have no support in Ireland.
“The polling data demonstrates the trend is only in one direction.
“What we need to do now collectively is to start making the preparations for a referendum.”
Ms McDonald suggested a referendum on Northern Ireland joining the Irish Republic “could happen in three years”, though she also suggested five years as a possibility.
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Boris Johnson has strongly defended the British union, which he has described as “the awesome foursome”.
Between 1969 and 1998 over 3,000 people were killed in the Northern Ireland focused conflict known as ‘The Troubles’.
Republican paramilitaries, most notably the IRA, attempted to merge Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic by force of arms.
Loyalist factions, committed to the union with Britain, carried out sectarian murders in retaliation.
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The UK finally split from Brussels on January 31.
This was over three years since Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016.
However a majority in Northern Ireland voted to remain, despite the unionist DUP enthusiastically backing Brexit.
During the interview with The Times Ms McDonald insisted the Northern Ireland conflict is over, but refused to explicitly condemn republicans ‘armed struggle’ against Britain.
Mary Lou McDonald on how Brexit could impact Ireland in 2019
She stated: “Let’s be clear here, there was a war on this island and the British state forces were full protagonists.
“Let’s not pretend it was just because the people on this island are uniquely dysfunctional. We had a colonial experience.”
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith was sacked by Mr Johnson earlier this week.
He had helped restore a power sharing Government in Stormont involving the DUP and Sinn Fein.
Mr Smith was replaced as Northern Ireland secretary by Brandon Lewis.
Arlene Foster, the current DUP leader and first minister of Northern Ireland, survived an IRA bomb attack on a bus she was travelling on as a child whilst her father was shot.