Sir, – Recent reports suggest British cabinet-level discussion of Irish unity, in the context of a no-deal Brexit.
Whatever the reasons for this sudden interest, it highlights a neglected aspect of the current debate.
The Belfast Agreement contains an existing mechanism for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland: concurrent referendums on Irish unity. A region that voted to remain has a constitutional route to a future within the EU, but outside of the UK.
This conversation is underway on this island (despite official resistance) and momentum is plainly building; it is good to see that politicians in Britain appear to have noticed.
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Perhaps they have started to read the Belfast Agreement? – Yours, etc,
Prof COLIN HARVEY,
School of Law,
Queen’s University
Belfast.