THE SECRETARY of state has been accused of being "utterly disrespectful" to the people of Ireland by again refusing to spell out the circumstances under which a border poll will take place.
Over recent months, Ireland's Future board member Professor Colin Harvey has written a series of letters to Brandon Lewis in an effort to nail down the necessary criteria for any future referendum on Irish unity.
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 states that it is up to the secretary of state to decide when a border poll should take place.
Prof Harvey has challenged the Conservative Party minister to say what evidence he would take into account when determining whether there should be a border poll.
In the latest response, received by the Queen's academic last week, Northern Ireland Office (NIO) officials say the Court of Appeal has ruled that it is not necessary for the secretary of state to lay out the criteria for a border poll.
"It presently remains the secretary of state's view that a majority of people in Northern Ireland continue to support its place in the United Kingdom, such that there is currently no basis on which he would direct a referendum to be held," the letter concludes.
But Prof Harvey is unhappy with the NIO response, claiming Mr Lewis has "utterly failed" to answer his questions meaningfully.
"The view of the British government is that the threshold for a referendum hasn't been met but he doesn't give any detail on the evidence he's using to make that assessment – no detail on the process, how often he makes that judgment or who he consults," the QUB lecturer told The Irish News.
"In my view that's utterly disrespectful to the people of the island of Ireland – this is a process that he will be involved in triggering and will have a major impact across the island yet we know nothing of the detail or evidence he'll be using."
