Opinion

Jim Gibney: 100 years ago, British sovereignty over the north looked solid - but no more

Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Picture by Jane Barlow/PA Wire
Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Picture by Jane Barlow/PA Wire Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Picture by Jane Barlow/PA Wire

British sovereignty was the main issue that drove the Brexiteers, the unionists here and those in Britain, in their campaign to leave the European Union.

It was the issue that led to a political civil war in Britain and political shocks in the north and Scotland with the majority of people in both areas voting to Remain.

It was the issue that led to a ‘sea border’ in the Irish Sea; the north remaining in the EU’s single market and customs union with the rest of Ireland and an EU customs infrastructure at several ports in the north checking goods coming from Britain to Ireland.

It prompted a decision from the EU that in the event of a successful referendum on Irish independence the new Irish state would automatically be readmitted to full membership of the EU.

The Remain result and the impact of the Brexit crisis has set the scene for a fascinating election in Scotland in May which could result in the SNP winning an overall majority and forming an SNP government. An outcome which would boost the SNP’s demand for a second independence referendum.

A successful second independence referendum in Scotland would have a profound impact on unionism here and have implications for an independence referendum in Ireland.

These ground-breaking developments are the unforeseen and welcome consequences of the sovereignty campaign by the Brexiteers with their mantra of ending interference by the EU in Britain’s affairs, taking back economic control from the EU - parliament and Westminster being sovereign not Brussels.

Late last year the withdrawal negotiations got bogged down and nearly broke down in the micro-detail of Britain’s sovereign claim being pushed to the limit over fishing rights.

There was much English jingoism about the issue in the tabloid press – in a throwback to the Malvinas war in 1982 when the gun boats were sent out.

Fishing – an industry that accounts for just 0.1 per cent of the UK’s economy – was elevated to a ‘red line’ for Britain’s negotiators, symbolic of Britannia once again ruling (albeit a few) waves.

But Johnson was again forced to compromise, dressing up sprats as a fish supper, and settling for a cut in EU fishing to 25 per cent, instead of the 60-80 per cent demanded.

He had also promised the unionists there would be no sea border down the Irish Sea, yet there it was, visible to everyone except Brandon Lewis, standing looking at it with his sprat supper.

But will the DUP ever learn from this latest British government betrayal of unionists.

Britain’s much-vaunted claim of sovereignty over the north shuddered to a halt at the Irish Sea border. And it is marooned there. It is likely it will remain there until the people of Ireland take the next step and vote for an independent Ireland in a referendum.

Ireland the nation is a member of the EU – Britain the nation is not.

There is something profoundly ironic that in the 100th year of partition, the British government should willingly drive a horse and four through its ‘unfettered’ sovereignty claim over the north by agreeing to a sea border, which preserves Ireland and the EU's integrity and weakens the constitutional link between the north and Britain.

The Irish News and the Irish Independent, the Economist, the Financial Times and the (London) Independent and Reuters ran leading articles, from seasoned commentators, analysing the significance of the rupture in Britain’s sovereignty over the north.

The comments in the Irish papers were upbeat and positive and included the prospect of a united Ireland economy next year; a call on the north’s Alliance Party to support a border poll; a surge towards Irish unity and the irrefutable logic of ending Irish partition.

The comments in the British newspapers hit a similar vein: a new frontier offering the prospect of eventual Irish unity; a united Ireland is suddenly becoming a very real possibility and it could not happen at a better time; the protocol bringing the north closer to the Republic.

Add to this commentary the interview with the Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen who said that Fianna Fáil needed a new policy that commits to a border poll by 2030. He also opened up the prospect of Sinn Féin in coalition government with Fianna Fáil.

Britain’s sovereignty over the north looked solid 100 years ago.

It certainly does not look like that today.