May’s playing a game of chicken over Brexit: McDonald
SINN Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has accused Prime Minister Theresa May of “playing a game of chicken” with Irish interests over Brexit.
Speaking after a meeting with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Westminster, Ms McDonald insisted that a no-deal Brexit would trigger a border poll referendum on Irish unity.
Ms McDonald said: “We are very disheartened at the manner in which Mrs May, it seems to us, is playing down the clock — and therefore playing a game of chicken with Irish interests.
“We are here to say again that Ireland won’t be the collateral damage in a Tory Brexit.”
Describing talks with Mr Corbyn as “extensive”, the Sinn Fein leader said: “We are of one mind in terms of protecting the Good Friday Agreement.
“In terms of the need for a backstop.
“We have said to him that there is a backstop. It is the backstop. It is the only backstop that there is. And that it represents the bottom line for us.
“He has heard that message very, very clearly.
“We have also set out for him that in the event of a crash, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, that the Irish question will loom even larger in British politics.
“Because in those circumstances there will be a democratic imperative to reach for the Good Friday Agreement and to trigger the referendum provision in that agreement and to put the issue of the border and Irish unity to the people.”
Asked if the Labour leader agreed with Sinn Fein’s stance on a border poll, Ms McDonald said: “He understands that clearly, as does Mrs May, that I’m making statements of fact here.
“It is a fact that the Good Friday Agreement provides a mechanism for a democratic decision on the border and on Irish unity.”
In a statement issued after the meeting, Ms McDonald added: “We stressed the need to protect Irish interests in Brexit and have the power sharing institutions of the North re-established on the basis of the agreements, rights and respect. The Labour leader agreed in the Brexit process the Good Friday Agreement must be protected and there could be no return to the borders of the past.”