It could be argued that a hard border would go against the spirit of this part of the agreement, but again, there is no specific prohibition. Under that agreement, the British and Irish Governments undertook to hold referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic on 22 May 1998 respectively. The referendum in Northern Ireland is expected to endorse the agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations. The purpose of the referendum on the Republic of Ireland was to approve the BRITANNICO-Irish Agreement and to facilitate the amendment of the Constitution of Ireland in accordance with the Agreement. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and some pro-Brexit Conservative MPs say the issue of a hard border does not need to be raised as they believe it can be overcome through a series of administrative and technical measures. However, none of these procedures seem to be suitable for a border vote, since the Good Friday Agreement implies that it will be held according to the principle of reunification before negotiations take place and that a concrete proposal can be included in the legislation. It is therefore not entirely clear how a referendum in the Republic of Ireland will take place at this stage. In an interview last year, he also placed the border in the context of the Good Friday Agreement. CONCLUSION: CAREFULLY CONSIDERED. The Belfast/Good Friday agreement does not exclude government border measures, but targets ”normal security arrangements”. The UK`s withdrawal agreement aims to minimise physical border controls. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, contained in the UK`s withdrawal agreement from the EU, reaffirmed that the Good Friday Agreement must be protected in its entirety. The agreement contains a commitment by the British and Irish governments to develop ”close cooperation between their countries as friendly neighbours and partners of the European Union” – of course, in 1998 there was no idea that the UK would vote to leave the EU 18 years later.
No. The Good Friday Agreement was partially included in the Article 50 dispute, including the Gina Miller case, but the issue of a hard border was not raised. The British Government is virtually out of the equation, and neither the British Parliament nor the British people have the right under this agreement to impede the achievement of Irish unity if it had the consent of the peoples of the North and the South. Our nation is and remains a nation with 32 counties. Antrim and Down are and will remain as much a part of Ireland as any county in the south. [20] Issues of sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, weapons dismantling, demilitarization, justice and law enforcement were at the heart of the agreement. As part of the agreement, the British Parliament repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920 (which had established Northern Ireland, divided Ireland and claimed a territorial claim over all of Ireland) and the people of the Republic of Ireland amended Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland, which affirmed a territorial claim over Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin supports the implementation of a border vote; In February 2019, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said there would be a ”democratic imperative” to hold a referendum on reunification in the event of a no-deal. The other major nationalist party, the SDLP, has warned against holding a vote before plans for a united Ireland are in place. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement does not exclude Northern Ireland or Ireland from the establishment of cross-border checkpoints and other security measures. However, an explicit objective of the UK`s withdrawal agreement is to minimise physical border controls.
The old text contains only four articles; it is this short text that is the legal agreement, but it includes the latter agreement in its annexes. [7] Technically, this envisaged agreement can be distinguished as a multi-party agreement as opposed to the Belfast Agreement itself. [7] The agreement contains a complex set of provisions relating to a number of areas, including: there is no explicit obligation never to tighten the border, and there is nothing on customs offices or regulatory controls. The vague wording of some provisions, described as ”constructive ambiguity”[8], helped to ensure acceptance of the agreement and served to postpone debate on some of the most controversial issues. These include the dismantling of paramilitaries, police reform and the standardisation of Northern Ireland. The multi-party agreement required the parties to ”use any influence they might have” to proceed with the dismantling of all paramilitary weapons within two years of the referendums approving the agreement. The standardisation process committed the BRITISH government to reducing the number and role of its armed forces in Northern Ireland ”to a level compatible with a normal peaceful society”. These included the removal of security arrangements and the lifting of special emergency powers in Northern Ireland. The Irish government has committed to a ”full review” of its violations of state law. In addition, the deal created open borders between Ireland and Northern Ireland without any checkpoints – a clause that has been under threat since Britain voted to leave the European Union. The Good Friday Agreement (also known as the Belfast Agreement) recognises the right of the people of the island of Ireland to create a united Ireland. subject to the consent of both parties.
Therefore, for Irish reunification to take place, cross-border elections must be held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The agreement establishes a framework for the creation and number of institutions in three ”strands”. .
