Charlie Flanagan welcomes Brexit guidelines on Ireland

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has welcomed the draft negotiating guidelines for the forthcoming Brexit process circulated to governments on Friday.

He said the section relating to Ireland were "as good as could have been hoped for".

Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Flanagan also pointed to the similar references in the statements and speeches of British prime minister Theresa May as evidence that the Irish position would receive special attention in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

He paid tribute to the work of Irish diplomats and officials who had been "working tirelessly" in Brussels and across the EU to press the case that Ireland was in a special position with regard to Brexit.

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Mr Flanagan later told RTÉ that the inclusion of strong language about the Border in the document was "a triumph for Irish diplomacy".

Taoiseach Enda Kenny also welcomed the document as reflecting Irish concerns.

Announcing the guidelines in Brussels on Friday morning, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, also emphasised that the maintenance of an open Border in Ireland was one of the priorities for the EU side in the negotiations.

"We will seek flexible and creative solutions aimed at avoiding a hard Border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. It is of crucial importance to support the peace process in Northern Ireland," Mr Tusk said.

‘Adjustment’ phase

Government sources in Dublin said the text reflected everything Ireland had been working for in recent months. They were also encouraged by other aspects of the document, including its generally constructive tone and the fact that it raised the prospect of a transition, or “adjustment” phase, after Britain formally left the union in 2019.

The document circulated by the European Council, the top decision-making body of the European Union, comprised of the heads of member state governments, is a relatively brief statement of principles, running to 26 paragraphs.

Paragraph 11 deals with the Irish situation: “The Union has consistently supported the goal of peace and reconciliation enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, and continuing to support and protect the achievements, benefits and commitments of the Peace Process will remain of paramount importance.

"In view of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required, including with the aim of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the Union legal order. In this context, the Union should also recognise existing bilateral agreements and arrangements between the United Kingdom and Ireland which are compatible with EU law."

Designated status

Though there are briefer references in the document to the position of British military bases in Cyprus and to Gibraltar, no other country is singled out in this fashion.

The process of fleshing-out the principles in the document will begin in Brussels next week, with meetings among senior officials beginning on Tuesday, The Irish Times understands.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin has reiterated its call for a special designated status within the EU for Northern Ireland. The party also called for a referendum on Irish unity.

"We have to take a stand against an EU frontier in Ireland. We are one community and one country: we must build towards unity, not further division," said Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy, who hosted a group of left-wing MEPs at a meeting in Co Louth on Friday.

“Sinn Féin believes there should be no hard or soft Brexit for the North and that we must move beyond the consequences of Brexit to look at real alternatives,” Mr Carthy said.

“Our preference is for a referendum on Irish unity, and a recent Red C poll found that a majority of those polled believe that Irish unity is the best way to avoid a hard Border.”