Brexit would be massive blow for border region

Paul Neilan

Fianna Fáil party leader Micheál Martin was recently in the Hotel Kilmore addressing a packed Sheelin suite on the local impact of a possible 2017 British exit from the EU through referendum.
“When the dust settled on the British election our Foreign Affairs and Border Region spokesperson Brendan Smith [the Cavan-Monaghan TD who organised the conference] was quick to grasp the importance of the upcoming British referendum on counties like Cavan and Monaghan,” he told the 350-odd crowd attending the Dublin Road hotel.
“He was eager to make sure that we were prepared for what will be a major decision in 2017. This evening’s conference is the start of what will be broader national conversation on the future of the EU and our relationship with our closest neighbour.
“Now is an apt moment to reflect upon the impact of a British exit and the future of the EU. The past number of weeks have been amongst the most turbulent in the history of the European Union since it first emerged from the ruins of war. A deep crisis has shook Europe to its very core,” said Mr Martin.

An 'existential crisis’
“The images of winding lines of people lingering outside ATMs and shuttered banks marking the streets of Athens are a long way from the hopes of the Euro’s founders. The thread of European solidarity has been worn thin by the strain of the financial crisis.
“The Greek crisis offers a vision of the path not taken by this country. The hard decisions taken from 2008 by Fianna Fáil stand in stark contrast to the reckless brinkmanship that Syriza in Greece has engaged in,” he said, adding that the Greek governing party, Syriza, “like their cheerleaders here Sinn Féin... simply don’t get it”.
The Cork native said that “extremes” were not needed and that “deal-making based on mutual respect and solidarity” was “vital for this region and this country when it comes to the prospects for Brexit and the very future of the European Union”. 
“We have seen little evidence of that solidarity throughout this crisis. Northern countries have been pitched against southern member states, creditors against debtors. A project designed to bring us closer is ripping us apart. It is tearing the core principle of what is meant to be Europe’s main philosophy apart.
“Looming large in the background of the Greek crisis is an even bigger challenge. The British in/out referendum in 2017 is an existential crisis for the union. 
If Britain was to leave, the nature of the most successful transnational organisation ever created would be irrevocably changed. 
“Nowhere in Europe would feel the impact of that change more deeply than here in Cavan and across the border region counties. 
“The value of EU solidarity has to be re-established if we are to convince Britain and Northern Ireland to remain part of the European Union. The normal EU spirit of solidarity and co-operation between member states is best illustrated in the border region. 
“Peace funding has been vital to supporting the fledgling agreement framework. Co-operation between the Republic and the UK has been the engine of the Good Friday agreement. Our role as co-guarantors bounds us together. Those links were forged in the common ground of the EU and need to last.

'Immense potential’
“Breaking this link by a unilateral British and Northern Ireland withdrawal would deal a massive blow to our capacity to work together. And the need to work together is as great as ever. 
“As I have always said peace in Northern Ireland has to be about more than the absence of violence.
“I am committed to forging a renewed sense of common purpose about the immense potential of the Good Friday Agreement peace for the cross-border region.
“Sharing services across health, third level education, and international trade must all be built upon to make the most of this region.”
The party leader said the referendum is “ultimately a matter for the British people and the people in Northern Ireland. It will be their choice and their choice alone as to what direction they will take”.
He said that “we are duty-bound” to ensure that the decision “when it comes is fully informed”.
“The people on the island of Ireland know that being a member of the EU has brought many advantages economically culturally and socially.
“We cannot afford a wall of regulations to be built from Derry to Down destroying the economic links between North and South. 
“We must therefore be prepared for both outcomes but have to work using our diplomatic, economic and cultural links to ensure Britain and Northern Ireland remains as part of the EU. That role is particularly important here in Cavan and across the border region where those links run deepest.
“And we mean the whole country not the two tier recovery of the government. A One Ireland recovery that is felt here in Cavan and across the border region.
“We have come through major challenges before and I am confident that arising from this threat will be fresh opportunity for the border region,” he said.