Ireland’s peace and prosperity at risk if Britain votes for exit, warns McAleese

A vote for Brexit could herald not only economic uncertainty for the island of Ireland but could jeopardise the “embedding of a culture of peace” in Northern Ireland, the former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has warned.

Speaking to The Tablet following a talk she gave in London to a number of Irish business groups, she said those on the island of Ireland and Irish people living in Britain “have a lot of skin in this game”.

Dr McAleese said many first- generation Irish immigrants were asking what their position would be in the event of a Brexit. “With the current focus on migration and immigration by the Leave side, they are wondering if a Brexit would lead to new immigration controls and if that were the case, where that would leave them.”

She said many in favour of a Brexit were unable to offer “sustainable reassurances” when confronted by concerns about the impact on the Irish border and the 400,000 jobs that are dependent on the billion-pounds’- worth of goods and services that flow between Ireland and the UK each week.

Common membership of the EU has led to a “hugely improved relationship” between Britain and Ireland and the roll-out of the peace process, she said. She warned that if the UK were to vote to leave the EU, the economic consequences would be stark for the border region in Ireland.

Concern about the impact of a Brexit on other nations was also raised this week by Baroness Scotland, the newly-elected Secretary General of the Common­wealth.

She warned that the 53 nations of the Commonwealth “rely on Britain’s position in Europe to make the Commonwealth case”.

Baroness Scotland, a Catholic, spoke to The Tablet on Tuesday at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminster Hall. “The biggest champion of the Commonwealth in Europe is the UK,” she said. “It needs to be the bridge, on trade, on values and on law.”

Fears of the impact of Brexit have also been voiced by the Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Catholic bishops of  Northern Ireland. Kenny said that a Brexit would be a “regrettable and backward” step for trade and co-operation between North and South as he described the 23 June vote as the most important since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

In a statement, bishops representing dioceses in the North warned that the “valuable work carried out to date to build new relationships across these islands must not be undermined”. They also paid tribute to the European Union’s role in bringing about peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

“The reintroduction of border controls would have profound implications not only for trade and the economy, but also for the wider civil society, notably through the disruptive impact on the day-to-day life of those who live in border areas or cross the border frequently,” they stressed.