Sir, – We, the undersigned, believe that Brexit will have serious socio-economic and destabilising consequences, and that it threatens the fragile peace process and erodes the rights of everyone who lives on the island of Ireland.
We are concerned that the necessary, comprehensive and enforceable constitutional and rights guarantees (including on the continuing EU citizens’ rights of Irish citizens and on the Common Travel Area) have not been secured or taken forward as part of any agreement to date. In this grave constitutional moment, we urge the EU to guarantee the rights of the people of Ireland, North and South, by securing in any agreement, enforceable guarantees that safeguard the principle of non-diminution of equality and human rights in Northern Ireland and the Belfast Agreement “in all its parts”, including its rights protections.
Recognising its role as co-guarantor of the Belfast Agreement, we urge the British government to agree to special measures (including a protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland) that protect the agreement and the future of the peace process, and ensure that commitments in the joint report of December 2017 are fully respected.
We call on the Irish Government as co-guarantor of the Belfast Agreement to redouble its efforts to ensure that the final Brexit deal honours the integrity of the agreement (and subsequent related agreements) and guarantees equality and rights protections for all those living on the island of Ireland. – Yours, etc,
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KEVIN HANRATTY,
Director, Human Rights
Consortium; PADDY
KELLY, Director,
Children’s Law Centre;
MICHAEL FARRELL,
Solicitor; EILIS BARRY,
Chief Executive, Free Legal
Advice Centres; Prof COLIN
HARVEY, School of Law,
Queen’s University Belfast;
LIAM HERRICK, Executive
Director, Irish Council for
Civil Liberties; Prof
SIOBHÁN MULLALLY,
Established Prof of Human
Rights Law and Director
Irish Centre for Human
Rights, NUI Galway &
BRIAN GORMALLY,
Director, Committee on the
Administration of Justice,
C/o Albert Street,
Belfast.