Sir, – Irish-born people in Britain have the right to vote in the forthcoming UK referendum on its EU membership, which will take place on June 23rd. While European Movement Ireland is not advocating how people should vote, we believe strongly that a European Union without the UK as a member would be bad for Ireland, bad for Europe and bad for the UK itself.
The vote on continued EU membership is ultimately a decision for the UK electorate. Whatever the outcome, it will be respected.
That said, we have a particular interest, a special voice and a unique perspective in this debate, not least the 500,000 or so Irish people living in the UK and the wider Irish diaspora of five million British people with at least one Irish-born grandparent.
European Movement Ireland, while believing that Brexit would be a very undesirable result, has focused our efforts on providing independent, factual information about the referendum. We are also urging the Irish in Britain to register online to vote by next Tuesday’s (June 7th) deadline.
No matter how people decide to vote, it is absolutely vital that they have their say on this once in a generation decision on Thursday, June 23rd. – Yours, etc,
MAURICE PRATT,
Chairman,
European Movement
Ireland,
8 Lower Fitzwilliam Street,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – I am becoming increasingly annoyed by the fevered interventions of our Government and business community as they fall over each to convince the Irish in the UK to vote not for their own self-interest or the wider interests of the country they have been forced to live in, but rather to do what is thought best for the “oul sod”.
As a returned member of this diaspora, I must admit I find the sudden concern for our opinion to be embarrassing, insincere and 60 years too late. Like all Irish people in the UK, my family could have perished on the streets of Kilburn for all anyone in government circles here cared.
All the talk of potential disruption to markets should the UK leave is also creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that may cause the very thing the doomsayers fear. The so-called financial experts who failed to foresee the collapse of 2008 are the same geniuses who now state with certainty what is going to happen. Maybe we should all take a deep breath and calm down. – Yours, etc,
PAT DOGGETT,
Walkinstown, Dublin 12.
Sir, – I have heard politicians and other experts on the European Union speculating that when it comes to voting to remain in the EU or to leave, that the large community of older Irish emigrants living in all parts of Britain would be “more likely” to vote to leave. It’s a view based on the assumption that older Irish people in Britain are by and large anti-European Union. I don’t believe this to be true.
I believe that when presented with the wholly negative impact Britain’s withdrawal would have on Ireland economically, culturally and socially, that community of older Irish emigrants will support what is in Ireland’s best interests. I believe they will vote to remain.
This generation hold an indisputable and historic record of intense loyalty and commitment to Ireland throughout the decades and they will not turn their backs on Ireland now. Their faithful devotion to the country of their birth has manifested itself over many decades. We can recall the economic and social importance of the emigrant remittances made by that generation. They did so with a strong sense of it being their moral duty.
There is every good reason to acknowledge too that the generation of Irish people who came here in the 1940s, 1950s and the 1960s and made valuable annual trips home to further boost the economy of their towns and villages back home. It is also this generation that kept alive our culture in music, in song, in sport and in literature. Ireland’s wellbeing remains always close to our hearts.
I am confident from many decades of work and engagement with the older Irish community in Britain that they will come out to vote and that they will want to support and protect Ireland.
By now also they will know that there is a general consensus that leaving the Europe Union would harm the British economy and it would also harm Ireland, not least because of the strong economic ties between the two countries.
It will be clear to them by now that Britain’s departure from the European Union could be felt almost immediately in Northern Ireland and could put in jeopardy the Belfast Agreement.
Moreover, it could put at risk the precious yet delicate peace that is still holding in Northern Ireland. Who could possibly see the restoration of Border checkpoints as anything other then a retrograde step? For those that have never accepted the peace process, it could be seen as provocative and undermine the current stability that exists between the two countries on the governance of Northern Ireland.
Like that generation of older Irish emigrants, my decision to vote to remain within the EU is also a moral and emotional one. I know my vote to remain will be supportive of Ireland as well as Britain the country in which I live, work and support my family. I appreciate all the opportunities I had as an Irish emigrant in Britain. Why would I not want the same opportunities for today’s migrant people? I am motivated to vote to remain because of my belief in international solidarity. I know I will be voting to support the movement of people, who want as I did, to make a better life for them. Like all of us, today’s migrant people want to contribute, they want to work, and they want to be good Europeans.
On the eve of my departure from Ireland in 1966, Ireland was still a poor country. There were few opportunities for employment and we were forced to go. Thanks to the European Union, Ireland today is an important member of the EU, able to effectively assert its own influence in Europe out of the shadows of a former imperial power. Today’s partnership between Britain and Ireland is a mature and intelligent relationship that the citizens of both countries continue to benefit from.
Our vote to remain in Europe will be a historic gesture of support, understanding and solidarity with the whole concept of a European Union. We can show we are willing to make the lives of all European people better through a common purpose, a common endeavour, and in the spirit of progress, humanity and solidarity. – Yours, etc,
SALLY MULREADY,
(Member of the Council
of State),
Director,
Irish Elderly Advice
Network,
London Irish Centre,
Camden.