UK’s exit will be ‘threat to peace process and human rights’

BREXIT will have detrimental consequences for the peace process and will weaken human rights and equality protections, a major new study has found. An 18-month research project by BrexitLawNI, a partnership between the schools of law at Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster, also found widespread anxiety about the long-term impact of Brexit on relationships on the island of Ireland. The study, which comprises six detailed reports on various aspects of Brexit, warns the UK’s departure from the EU was widely regarded as “manna from heaven” for republican dissidents and that a hard Border would inevitably become a target for them. It concluded a hard Border should be “avoided at all costs”. The study warned about the economic impact of Brexit and recommended that Northern

Ireland should remain in the single market and customs union, and that there should be no new barriers to trade either north-south or eastwest. It also found Brexit has had a political impact on the island of Ireland in “mainstreaming” discussions on Irish unification. The findings arise from in-depth interviews, consultations and town hall meetings exploring the possible impact of Brexit on human rights and the peace process.

The study also involved discussions with business representatives, trade unions,

‘It could introduce a new focus for conflict between divided communities’

community activists and politicians and officials in Belfast, London, Dublin and Brussels. Queens University professor Colin Harvey, who led the project, said Brexit represented “a profound constitutional moment” for both the North and the island as a whole. “Brexit will threaten the peace process and weaken protections for human rights and equality,” he said. “It risks disrupting northsouth co-operation, increasing racist immigration enforcement and dividing British and Irish citizens. It could also reduce international oversight of human rights and introduce a new focus for conflict between divided communities.” Prof Harvey said many of these matters had simply been neglected in discussions so far, something that needed to change. “It remains clear that Northern Ireland will require a special arrangement if the problems we identify are to be credibly addressed.” The study’s findings in relation to the potential for dissident republican terrorism in the wake of Brexit are particularly stark.