Brexit: the British view from the Irish west coast

Pete Ball (50), an Englishman living in Connemara, gets quite incensed when he thinks about the British referendum on European Union membership.

"It's the waste – of time, of taxpayers' money – for something that is just a political trade-off for David Cameron, " says Ball, originally from Ormskirk in Lancashire.

Ball, a Labour Party voter back in Britain, feels passionately about the European project – "in spite of its flaws".

He has lived for eight years in Connemara, and is a tutor in English, working mainly from home. "I'm with my pupils on Skype – so I can live in the countryside, near Clifden, and teach all over the world."

Ball is not sure if he will cast a vote, but says if he does it will be to remain within Europe.

British ambassador to Ireland Dominick Chilcott this week reminded Brits living in Ireland to register for online voting in the June 23rd referendum before the June 6th deadline.

Serious repercussions

“I think most people don’t quite understand the very serious repercussions yet,” Ball says. “What really annoys me is that it was a political trade-off by Cameron, knowing that the Liberal Democrats were finished and that young first-time voters would never vote for that party again because of the lies that leader

Nick Clegg

and his party told,” he says.

"By trying to steal the Ukip vote and keep right-wing Tory backbenchers happy, Cameron has been clever, but the British taxpayer is paying for all this political manoeuvring," he says. "I hope that sense will prevail, because I don't subscribe to a future where we get smaller political units – like the break-up of Yugoslavia, and impending break-up of Iraq and Syria. "

NUI Galway lecturer in English Dr Richard Pearson has also lived in Ireland for eight years, and is from Yorkshire.

He says he would vote for Britain to remain within the EU, for similar reasons, but says it is unfortunate the referendum is coinciding with the migrant crisis: “The way the migrant issue is being reported may raise the turnout in favour of Brexit, but I would hope that ultimately a high turnout would result in Britain staying in Europe,” Pearson says. “The younger voters are more multicultural, and far more positive towards Europe, so I would have confidence in them,”he says.

However, the British view of the EU from the west of Ireland is not uniform, as illustrated by London-born fitness instructor Cliff Jennings (54), who lives with his wife and two children in An Cheathrú Rua, Co Galway.

Unwieldy EU

If he was living in Britain, he would vote for a Brexit as he believes the EU has become far too unwieldy. However, as he is living here, he prefers to think of the impact on Ireland. He does not believe it would be good.

"I'm big into Twitter, as it's where I get my sports news, and so I hear about the tensions and the waste of money in Brussels, and about how impossible it is to reach a consensus on anything because of the number of countries involved," he says. "The EU has become like a big coalition of parties – where no one can agree and nothing gets done and lots of money is spent.

“At the same time, I feel I’ve a duty to think of the effect on the country where I am living, and I love Ireland,” he says.

“ I love the way you can be nationalistic and celebrate your patron saint’s day here without being accused of being racist . . . so I will probably respond to the British ambassador’s request this week to register, and I will probably vote to stay in . . .”