SINN Féin MEP Martina Anderson has said Brexit is incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement and the EU must ensure it is protected in all its parts.
Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Martina Anderson said:
“The European Council Guidelines on Brexit gave support to the Good Friday Agreement ‘in all its parts’.
“This is a commitment by the EU to not allow for any hardening of the border between the north and the south of Ireland.
“As Irish republicans we do not want to see any border on the island of Ireland and we have put forward a credible alternative to Brexit which would see the north securing designated special status within the EU.
“The guidelines are also a commitment not to allow Irish citizens to be dragged out of the EU against our will.
“Now that we have the guidelines we should be putting some flesh on them to ensure they fully uphold the Good Friday Agreement.
“It is clear that Brexit is incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement and the EU need to ensure it is protected.
“I have raised this directly with the President of the EU Commission, Jean Claude Juncker; President of the Council of Europe, Donald Tusk; and the EU’s chief negotiator on Brexit, Michel Barnier, in the last 24 hours.
“There should be no weakening of these commitments in the Negotiating Directives to be adopted on May 22.”
