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Johnson warned over Brexit impact on Northern Ireland


Boris Johnson has been warned on a visit to Northern Ireland that the region could vote to break away from the UK if he presses ahead with a no-deal Brexit on October 31.

Mr Johnson, on the final leg of a tour of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, was told that leaving the EU without a deal could cause economic chaos in Northern Ireland and boost pressure for a poll to create a united Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin president, claims the route back into the EU for a pro-Remain Northern Ireland is through a so-called “border poll” — uniting the two parts of the island.

Mr Johnson was warned on Monday that a no-deal Brexit would increase pressure for a second independence referendum in Scotland, which also voted Remain.

Ms McDonald, who will meet the new British prime minister on Wednesday, said a no-deal Brexit would create economic and political chaos.

“In the event of a crash Brexit or hard Brexit I can’t see for the life of me how anyone can sustain the argument for the status quo,” she told the BBC’s Today programme.

Ms McDonald said in those circumstances Northern Ireland should be given a border poll — a provision contained in the Good Friday Agreement if there was clear evidence of support in the region for a united Ireland.

Northern Ireland voted Remain by 56-44 in the 2016 referendum and business and farming groups in the region have issued strong warnings about the risks to the economy of a no-deal exit.

A no-deal Brexit could put 40,000 jobs at risk in Northern Ireland, according to analysis this month from Stormont’s Department for the Economy.

The report says many jobs could “disappear almost overnight, especially in industries such as agri-food and haulage”, with a big drop in trade with the Republic of Ireland.

Mark Sedwill, Britain’s top civil servant, warned in April that a no-deal Brexit would require the UK to re-establish direct rule in Northern Ireland unless the Stormont power sharing executive was reinstated.

On Tuesday night Mr Johnson held talks with the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist party, which props up his government at Westminster, to discuss the terms for its continued support.

Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP’s chief whip, said after the meeting that he recognised “no deal is not good in the short term for our economy” but backed Mr Johnson’s hardline approach in talks with the EU.

“We want to see the UK leave the EU with a deal but the deal that’s on the table at the moment is clearly unacceptable,” he told the BBC after the private dinner with the prime minister.

He insisted that a no-deal Brexit would not increase pressure for a united Ireland. “I think the constitutional issue is one thing and Brexit is another; people have very clear views on both,” he said.

The DUP has said it will renew its “confidence and supply” deal to prop up the Conservative government, but its terms are up for renewal. The unionist party is expected to drive a hard bargain, given Mr Johnson’s tenuous grip on power.

Even with DUP support, his House of Commons majority will fall to just one if — as expected — the Tories lose Thursday’s Brecon and Radnorshire by-election to the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Johnson will meet leaders of the five biggest parties in Northern Ireland on Wednesday to urge them to restore Stormont, which was suspended in early 2017 after a row between the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Speaking ahead of the talks, Mr Johnson said: “I’m pleased to meet each of Northern Ireland’s party leaders today to stress that I am going to do everything in my power to make the ongoing talks to restore devolution a success.”



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