Opinion

Jim Gibney: This election provides an opportunity for pro-Remain parties to shape the debate

Sinn Féin North Belfast candidate John Finucane. Picture by Arthur Allison, Pacemaker
Sinn Féin North Belfast candidate John Finucane. Picture by Arthur Allison, Pacemaker Sinn Féin North Belfast candidate John Finucane. Picture by Arthur Allison, Pacemaker

The informal arrangements here between parties in some constituencies in the Westminster election have undoubtedly concentrated an even greater focus on the potential for gains for pro-Remainers.

The pro-Remain majority alliance – made up of Sinn Féin, SDLP, Alliance and Greens - has had considerable success in reshaping the debate over the last few years since the people of the north voted to Remain in 2016.

The re-shaping of the debate witnessed people last May tactically voting or temporarily moving from one party to another (which Alliance hope to consolidate and repeat on December 12) and led to the election of two Remain MEPs.

The Remain lobby has a number of complementary objectives which are: to protect the two economies, north and south; to ensure that Ireland remains inside the EU and that there is maximum access to the free movement of people, goods, services and capital across the EU.

The Remain lobby also seeks to protect the values of the EU which revolve around being members of the Union in terms of citizenship and the legal and human rights protections that accompany those values.

Young people in the north particularly enjoy travelling unhindered across the 27 member states; experiencing other cultures and other education systems through the Erasmus work experience programme which provides opportunities to study and work while completing a degree.

This broad, democratic and inclusive EU framework provides people of the north the opportunity to be European citizens while retaining their national identity and allegiance, whether it is Irish or British or European or a mixture.

This pluralistic European outlook has created a flexibility when people are at the polls.

It elected MEPs Martina Anderson and Naomi Long and could elect John Finucane, Claire Hanna and Naomi Long in Belfast – the three seats which provide the best opportunity to inflict a setback for the DUP Brexiteers.

Sinn Féin, SDLP and Greens correctly cleared the field in north, south, east Belfast and north Down to ensure maximum encouragement for the voters there to vote for the only Remain candidate who can win.

In North Belfast that is John Finucane, in South Belfast it is Claire Hanna, in East Belfast it is Naomi Long and North Down it is Stephen Farry.

It is also very welcome indeed that Sinn Féin and the SDLP withdrew from East Belfast and North Down and that the Workers Party and Aontu, small though their votes are, withdrew from North Belfast, South Belfast and Fermanagh South Tyrone.

These withdrawals help to highlight the pro-Remain anti-Brexit character of this election and the importance all of the Remain parties attach to uniting the Remain vote.

But voter caution is required in marginal constituencies like Fermanagh/South Tyrone where the sitting pro-Remain MP Michelle Gildernew is in a tight contest with a unionist. She needs every pro-Remain vote to hold that seat.

The current sitting pro-Remain MPs in Foyle, South Down, West Belfast, South Tyrone, Mid-Ulster and Newry/Armagh have a proven track record, in not only providing the constituencies with a first-class service, but in ensuring Ireland’s interests and its people are at all times to the fore in terms of the EU. They deserve to be re-elected.

The DUP’s campaign is about narrowing the debate away from the benefits of membership of the EU to the narrow ground of ‘protecting the union’ inside the UK with reckless disregard for Ireland’s two economies, north and south.

It is the DUP’s cavalier attitude to the economy in the north, which has serious implications for the economy in the south, which is causing it the greatest criticism within the broad unionist community, especially its rural voter-base, who know the worth of the EU and positive relationships with business in the south.

This election provides an opportunity for Remainers to advocate the values of the EU and to set these in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the Remain vote in the 2016 referendum.

This is a positive and democratic framework where there is security for people in terms of the economic future and in terms of people’s cultural identity and aspirations.

It is the broadest possible canvas where rights are guaranteed in law and everyone irrespective of political allegiance is treated with respect.

Voting Remain guarantees an inclusive and prosperous future for all.