Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Life after Brexit: Operationalising the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’s Principle of Consent

Murray, C.R.G.; O'Donoghue, A.

Life after Brexit: Operationalising the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’s Principle of Consent Thumbnail


Authors

C.R.G. Murray

A. O'Donoghue



Abstract

Brexit has energised discussions upon Irish (re)unification, with even Theresa May recognising that the threat of a no-deal Brexit heightens the possibility of the break up of the UK. The increasingly prominent discussion of a so-called “border poll”, however, risks disguising the difficulties inherent in arranging such a vote. If no effort is made, in advance, to explore the processes by which a united Ireland could be brought about, then the peoples of Ireland and Northern Ireland risk being bounced into a choice without a reasonable opportunity to make an informed decision. The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement has been said to provide ‘a clear mechanism through which a united Ireland may be achieved’. Judges, however, have emphasised its ‘intensely political’ nature and the multiple possible readings that its terms support. Deliberations upon (re)unifying Ireland raise questions of domestic law under the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, European Union law, the European Convention on Human Rights and aspects of general international law. These legal considerations are but one element of planning for an exercise of consent, taking their place alongside political, social and economic considerations. This paper reflects upon the extent to which the incorporation of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in the law of Ireland and Northern Ireland enables the functioning of its principle of consent or shrouds it in mystery.

Citation

Murray, C., & O'Donoghue, A. (2019). Life after Brexit: Operationalising the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’s Principle of Consent. Dublin University law journal, 42(1), 147-189

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 25, 2019
Online Publication Date Nov 1, 2020
Publication Date 2019
Deposit Date Nov 18, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Dublin University law journal
Print ISSN 0332-3250
Publisher Clarus Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 42
Issue 1
Pages 147-189
Publisher URL https://www.claruspress.ie/shop/dublin-university-law-journal-dulj-vol-421/
Related Public URLs https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/261773

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations