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WHETHER OR NOT Ireland moves to hold a referendum on unity in the coming years, discussing how such a vote might happen is a useful exercise.
As we’ve discussed already in The Good Information Project series, this is not only because ignoring it completely as a possibility seems foolhardy, but also because the Irish Constitution explicitly states a desire for it to happen.
The Good Friday Agreement, which was backed by 94% of voters in the Republic and 71% in the North, also allows for Irish unification should voters on both sides of the border agree.
This does not answer the question of when such a vote should take place, a point we will examine later but there is much to discuss first.
Questions such as what is the Irish State’s official position on unity? What exactly have we signed up for under the Good Friday Agreement and what are government’s required to do about it?
There’s also issues surrounding the role of the UK’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and indeed how the timing of a border poll has been interpreted by the courts.
The reason Irish citizens in the Republic were required to vote on the Good Friday Agreement 23 years ago was because it changed the Constitution – specifically the language around Northern Ireland and the Irish State’s relationship to it.
Before the 1998 vote, the Irish Constitution essentially had a “claim of right” over the entire island of Ireland and its seas, stating: “The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas.”
Furthermore, the Constitution stated that while any laws passed by the Oireachtas would apply to the 26 counties, this was only “pending the re-integration of the national territory”.
In effect, it meant that the Constitution was also claiming Northern Ireland, while acknowledging that it wasn’t presently able to govern it. This territorial claim was an issue for unionists and the pledge to replace it was a key part of the GFA.
Instead, what was inserted into the Constitution was a watered-down and more aspirational desire for unification, as laid out here in Article 3:
It is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions, recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island.
That desire for a united Ireland is clear, but what is less clear are any actions that should be taken to make it happen. There are no specific details laid out here.
In a previous fact-check, The Journal found that while a united Ireland may be a Constitutional aspiration, there is little to suggest that the government is legally required to work towards it.
In accepting the GFA, both the British and Irish governments were required to accept the current constitutional situation of Northern Ireland.
The agreement states that the present wish of the people of Northern Ireland is to “maintain the Union” and that the current situation “relies upon that wish”.
It also clearly acknowledges that the constitutional status is a decision for the people of Northern Ireland. Article 1.1 of the agreement states that both governments must:
recognise the legitimacy of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland with regard to its status, whether they prefer to continue to support the Union with Great Britain or a sovereign united Ireland.
Article 1.2 deals with the potential for a united Ireland and states this must be accepted if separate votes held at the same time on both sides of the border support this.
In the text of that section, the GFA outlines that both governments must:
recognise that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively and without external impediment, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish, accepting that this right must be achieved and exercised with and subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland.
The agreement also states that if such a decision is taken in referendums on both sides of the border, governments have an obligation to introduce legislation to give effect to the change.
In the case of the UK, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland would be responsible for bringing such legislation before the UK parliament.
The NI Secretary, however, arguably has a much more significant role in determining when a referendum would actually happen. These details are also laid out in the GFA but there is a lack of clarity in exactly when the NI Secretary would be required to do this.
First off, the phrase ‘border poll’ is not used in the GFA and its use has been deemed somewhat political itself, such is the sensitivity around the history of the border.
However, the GFA and the UK’s Northern Ireland Act 1998 do use the term “a poll”, so we will continue to use the term “border poll” as a catch-all for the concurrent referendums north and south which would decide the status of Northern Ireland.
While Article 1.3 of the GFA notes that a united Ireland is allowed for following support in referendums on both sides of the border, it also emphasises that a majority is required in Northern Ireland for this to happen.
It is also accepted within the GFA that “a majority of the people of the island of Ireland” wish for a united Ireland.
Taken together, the GFA essentially acknowledges that the island as a whole supports unity but that the central question is whether Northern Ireland would consent to such.
Therefore, it is explicitly stated in the GFA that the holding of a border poll is within the power of the NI Secretary:
if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.
Essentially, it means that a border poll can be held if the NI Secretary feels it is likely that it would be passed. If one is held, there can’t be another for another seven years.
While that much is clear, what remains unclear are the barometers the NI Secretary must use to judge if that consent is likely. For example, is it a case of looking at the politicians elected in Northern Ireland? Or could polling also be used as a consideration?
These questions were discussed at a recent sitting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Good Friday Agreement.
Professor Colin Harvey of Queen’s University Belfast told the committee that he has been in correspondence with the Secretary of State’s Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in an effort to get clarity on the test for determining if consent is likely.
In that correspondence, which was provided to TheJournal.ie, the NIO said: “In making this judgement the Secretary of State must have regard to reasonable factors and make a judgement based on objective, reliable and empirical information.”
The NIO does not, however, detail what this information would be.
For the record, the NIO does state, as per a letter dated 1 March 2021, that the UK government is “firmly of the view” that there is currently “no clear evidence” that the conditions for a referendum have been met at this time.
Northern Ireland doesn’t just benefit from being in the UK, the UK benefits from NI being a part of it too. In this centenary year, I will be promoting what NI has to offer around the world. #NIBeyond100. pic.twitter.com/RG8vtClSlH
— Brandon Lewis (@BrandonLewis) January 22, 2021
Speaking recently on the BBC’s Question Time programme, NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said that “nobody should be afraid of having a conversation” about Northern Ireland’s constitutional future.
However, he rejected the assertion that Brexit had made the case for a unity referendum more likely and said that both the UK and Northern Ireland benefit from the union.
From the point of view of the Irish government, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has described talk of a border poll following Brexit as being “a mistake”.
As recently as today, Martin repeated that he doesn’t envisage a referendum on a united Ireland during the lifetime of this government.
Yes, it has.
While there is a lack of clarity on the barometers required for a NI Secretary to determine if such a border poll might pass, Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal found last year that the Secretary’s discretion on the matter was “unqualified”.
The ruling came following an action taken by Raymond McCord, who argued that the UK government’s failure to set out the circumstances where a border poll should take place was a breach of the constitutional issues provided for in GFA.
This was rejected by the court, which found that it was for the UK government to decide “what is or is not relevant to the decision-making process”.
The court said this decision-making process could change “depending on the prevailing circumstances” and that “flexibility” is required due to the “complex political judgments” required.
In essence, the judgement said the law did not specify any matter which should be taken into account or anything which should be disregarded in deciding to call a border poll.
The timing is therefore up to the UK government to decide, something noted in the recent advertisements in The New York Times and the Washington Post placed by the Friends of Sinn Féin.
But while the judgement did find the UK government has unqualified discretion, it also affirmed that the decision to hold a border poll must be based on evidence and not politics. The ruling stated the UK Secretary of State must be “honest and rigorously impartial” in making such a determination.
Furthermore, it added that the decision-making process “must involve both governments” given their inter-relationship and the fact that “if not carefully handled it could give rise to great instability.”
This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work is the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.
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In other news, when the coroner turned his back for 2 minutes Epstein cremated himself.
@Luke Lee: And his last words were : “But I don’t want to commit suicide……”
@Luke Lee: comment of the day
@Luke Lee: comment of the day
The plot thickens…dun dun dun. I’d say NETLFIX are only beside themselves.
@Cupid Stunt: it would be hard to hang yourself without breaking bones in your neck, to be honest. It doesnt really indicate that someone else was involved. I’m not saying they weren’t, but..
@Cupid Stunt: it won’t be Netflix, it will be Michael Moore.. he hates the super elite and the damage they can do to the average person.
@James Wallace: “more common in victims of homicide by strangulation.”
They wouldn’t nail their colours to the mast but they seem to be implying that there’s a strong possibility that Epstein was strangled.
The investigation is now looking at CCTV to see if anyone entered the cell in the lead up to Epstein’s death, a toxicology report to see if the man was drugged and are talking to all guards who were on duty that day.
They are certainly not convinced that this was a suicide.
@Cupid Stunt: Netflix won’t touch this. Netflix have a left wing bias, it’s blatant by what stories they do make documentaries about and what they don’t. I’ve been waiting for the Hollywood pedophile scandal to merit a Netflix documentary, Bryan Singer, Kevin Spacey. But, uh oh! They’re Democrats! So, no-go!
@Mártan Ó Conghaile: wouldn’t they have to wait for convictions so that they wouldn’t be sued out of existence?
@James Wallace: when hanging yourself off a bunk bed its less likely to break bones as you are basically choking yourself to death rather than actually being strung up by the neck
@D H: unless you jump.
@Peter Cavey: Nope. Moore is the elite. He transitioned quite a while ago.
Meanwhile the family of the coroner are devastated that he passed away in a car crash… next week
@Vote4Pedro: She! Joke worked better with the guards. Coroner not a threat to anyone, but if guards involved then they are.
I’m just sorry his victims will never really get justice
@SorchaHendry86: she is taking out a civil case against his estate. It is also likely that criminal action will be taken against his co-conspirators.
@Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: firstly there is no conviction, so I do not know how you can take a civil action case against a dead man.
I’m going to cut to the chase here. Why would underage girls willingly go to a billionaires home for money knowing that they would be performing massages naked. I don’t buy the sex trafficking charges. But I would say he is guilty of sexual exploitation of minors, and deserves to be punished. I think the lure of money brought them there in the first place and it’s the lure of money and big payouts that are bring them to the courts. It smells of child prostitution in the West by rich by powerful rich men. I do not for a second think he should be be carrying the can here for the others, just indict them and name them, and let’s move on from Epstein.
@Paul O’Sullivan: People are ofter successfully sued in civil court without a finding of criminal guilt. Why don’t you buy the sex trafficking charges? What’s weird to me is your the girls knew what they were getting into bit, seems more than a little bit unfair.
@Sorcha Hendry instagram: @SorchaHendry86: didn’t they find loads of computers and flash drives? Hopefully there is something dodgy on those that can implicate some of these evil people.
The jail (Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York or MCC) was built to accommodate 474 inmates but held 763 prisoners at the time of Epstein’s death.
There’s a, staffing Crisis. Here’s staffing levels in federal prisons: https://i.imgur.com/byvQEFr.jpg, the drop in staff since 2017 is due to Government hiring freeze over disagreements involving the funding of the southern border wall, staff are retiring and quitting, no one is, replacing them.
There’s only one psychiatrist for more than 500 prisoners diagnosed severe mental illnesses in New York’s two federal jails, he/she works between MCC and Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn (MDC Brooklyn). This single overworked psychiats would have briefly seen Epstein after his first suicide attemp.
Due to staff shortages, since early 2018 the prison wings on MCC are staffed by only two guards. Indeed, there were only two guards on duty the morning Epstein was found dead.
One of the two guards was working a fifth straight day of overtime and the other was working mandatory overtime. Also, only one of the two guards, on 9 South where Epstein was held, was a prison guard. Officials refused to say what the other guard’s usual duties were. However in 2018, the New York Times reported that Teachers and Sectaries were filling in for prison guards at MCC.
In February 2018, a British court ruled against extraditing accused hacker Lauri Love – who is diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome – to the US, on the grounds that he might commit suicide at MCC due to the dreadful conditions there.
The heating failed in MDC Brooklyn in 2018 during a severe cold snap, this attests to the chronic underfunding of MDC, Brooklyn and MCC, MMC also has frequent complaints about mice and rats in prisoner’s cells, it has been described as a nightmare gulag, tougher than Guantánamo Bay.
“The segregated units are horrifying and inhumane,” said David E. Patton, the executive director of Federal Defenders of New York, who wrote by email.“If you wanted to intentionally design a place to drive people mad, you’d be hard pressed to do better.”
I don’t think he was attacked and killed, however I think it is possible they knew that suicide was a likeky and an intended outcome.
On the other hand he was always going to end up in MCC because he was living in New York, so they didn’t choose the worst prison. Bernie Madhoff, who’s mansion was a few blocks away from Epstein’s, was also imprisoned in MCC.
So on the other hand…
“Many journalists have fallen for the conspiracy theory of government. I do assure you that they would produce more accurate work if they adhered to the cock-up theory” – Bernard Ingham.
News Articles:
Prisoners Endure A Nightmare ‘Gulag’ In Lower Manhattan, Hidden In Plain Sight – 2018 article
Jeffrey Epstein jail ‘a gulag’ in lower Manhattan
Manhattan Jail That Holds El Chapo Is Called Tougher Than Guantánamo Bay – 2017 article
Safety Concerns Grow as Inmates Are Guarded by Teachers and Secretaries – 2018 article
In Short-Staffed Jail, Epstein Was Left Alone for Hours; Guard Was Substitute
Lauri Love would face ‘medieval’ conditions in US prison if extradited over hacking charges – 2017 article
@David Jordan: thanks for sharing, in other words the prison is houses inmates in inhumane conditions.
@Paul O’Sullivan: yes, due to chronic underfunding and a hiring freeze
@David Jordan: It’s not even a prison, it’s a jail. Only for people awaiting trial or sentencing. And pity about them if conditions are not worthy!
@Burn_the_Witch: you’ve just said that it’s not for the guilty then said those that are there deserve it!
@Dave O’Keeffe: Yes I did, didnt I. Would you like me to take it back?
@Burn_the_Witch: well in my opinion no person should be treated inhumanely in a prison. It is bad enough that a person is in prison that is the punishment in itself to be kept away from society. A prison is a building that houses prisoners it’s not a building to deprive a person of their sanity and to treat them inhumanely.
@Paul O’Sullivan: Well aren’t you a saint. Maybe if this guy and his ilk had their dirty little way with your daughter you might feel otherwise. Child abusers are the lowest form of life there is and sympathizers like you who pity them being in prison are part of the problem. How you can even say that on here is beyond me. What do you want, a letter of apology and a fine and off he goes?
@David Jordan: Sorry can you repeat that We all fell asleep with your cut n paste story
@Burn_the_Witch: There is a lot of people that are in American jails whom cannot afford to pay the bail or who are waiting to be put into a psychiatric hospital.Why do you want those people to suffer in appalling conditions,Burns?
@Conor V: Another new account pops up to help out another new account.That is soooo adorable.
@Burn_the_Witch: I am not just saying in Epstein’s case I am saying it for all prisoners.
@Tom Doyle: So we should make it like a play centre for adults because there are a few innocents? Don’t think so. I see your point but incarceration is a necessity and it’s never going to be a nice experience. In fact there should be a special wing just for the sex criminals where they are treated like the people they are.
@Paul O’Sullivan: well this is about Epstein, so how do you think he should be treated?
@Burn_the_Witch: no, you said every single person in there is innocent as they are awaiting trial. Epstein has been convicted of previously and got off very lightly, he was long overdue punishment.
@Burn_the_Witch: in response to how Epstein should be treated. Well 3 meals a day, an hour’s exercise , a bed to sleep on..access to a shower one phone call and possibly s book to read and night or a tv. How would you treat him ?
@David Jordan: Sounds exactly like what prison should be like.
@David Jordan: Sounds exactly like what a prison is meant to be like.
@Burn_the_Witch: FYI I don’t sympathise with sex offenders I believe in justice, justice for for all. That’s Victim, Survivor and Aggressor. I’ll informed people like you only sink to the level of the aggressor in my eyes.
@David Jordan: He attempted suicide, but was later brought off suicide watch less than a week later. Why? BOTH guards tasked with watching him fell asleep. BOTH? I frequently work overtime, I think it’s convenient that BOTH fell asleep and therefore didn’t witness “the suicide”. Now broken bones in his neck, indicative of strangulation. Not hard then to place twisted sheets around his neck, hey presto, a noose.
@Mártan Ó Conghaile: technically only one of them was a guard and he was doing overtime for the fifth day straight. It’s totally unacceptable and does need to be investigated.
Just dig a hole for him and let’s move on.
@Bad Dog: let’s not
Ghislaine Maxwell has Jeffrey’s 100-page little black book of contacts. I would be very worried if I was her.
@jacquoranda: Could already be dead as nobody knows where she is
@jacquoranda: Mick Jagger and Eddie Irvine have been named….
@Padraig Carroll: the question is by who
@jacquoranda: her suicide is next week too….
No idea who this guy is, nor have I ever heard of him.
@Dan Skelton: He’s probably never heard of you either
@Dan Skelton: Well said Bill !
@Dan Skelton: I’d say there’s lots of things of haven’t heard of.
@Dan Skelton: a lot of high power people are saying the same exact thing
@Dan Skelton: Put the google app beside your Journal app.
@Dan Skelton: these two shocking revelations seem somehow connected.
@Dan Skelton: Seems to be a lot of that going around at the moment.
@pethelhug: Google!? The hell is that!? Stupid name!
Now that’s a proper prison. I do feel for the employees though, who have to put up with tough working conditions.
@Thewestisbest: prisons dont work except to offer the population an element of ‘they are off the streets’. But they are a major failure when it comes to correcting behaviour. Recidivism is huge (over 75% here I think) and prisons are a school for criminals. Thus we send people to prison (correctional facilities in the US) to correct anti-social and criminal behaviour and end up teaching those who pass through them to be more antisocial and better criminals. Making the prisons ‘tougher’ is degrading and inhumane and makes us as a society no better than the criminals.
@Thewestisbest: By their own standards it decidedly isn’t a proper prison
@Thewestisbest: it’s a pre-trial holding facility therefore nobody there has been convicted, they just haven’t posted, or have been denied, bail.
Lovely Day today I hope we get hot weather for a week
Then died in a tragic car accident next week…
Ray Donovan did it
There’s a report that someone was seen on a grassy knoll with a rope and a WW2 type rope launcher, he looked like a Mob type, almost certainly a Made Man, FBI have picked up some info on a wire tap, he may have been disappeared with approval from the Don and he’s now sleeping with the fishes.
I Jjjtiyooi
Wonder what kinda journey he will be on now…death always has the last say and is always the final decider.
No one can be with him at the end as he goes on his second journey, it’s something he will have to face on his own without the help of money or the powerful.
Looking more and more like murder then, must be a lot of pedos out there scared stiff in politics, royalty and in show business…
Never knew Hillary did BJJ
have your say