Third, the role and the approach of the British government have been quite different in the wake of Brexit from those of their predecessors in the years in which the Agreement was concluded and brought into effect. [...] But the degree to which some of the proposals in the paper were oversold may well be a novelty – to the point of calling into question the government’s credibility in future dealings with the parties (especially since the DUP leadership has now acknowledged overselling10). [...] Dublin (like the other Northern Ireland parties) was kept at arm’s length from the Safeguarding the Union negotiations, in marked contrast to the lead up to earlier deals.15 The passage of the Legacy Act, which Dublin (like all Northern Ireland parties) argued against, and Dublin’s subsequent reference of the issue to the European Court of Human Rights, have also led to tensions: ministers warned. [...] The British government’s current highly restrictive doctrine as to what Dublin should be involved in is recent: it would not have been recognised in the era of the Agreement and its implementation.21 21 The Safeguarding the Union paper makes an argument that the Irish government should not be involved in questions relating to the Northern Ireland institutions – Strand One of the Agreement – which. [...] The Protocol and the Windsor Framework28 The issues Under the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland is in a markedly different position in certain respects, as regards the EU, from the rest of the UK.
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Table of Contents
- NI report Cover June yellow header24 1
- Northern Ireland Challenges for the next Westminster government Final Text RHall RHall 2
- Contents 4
- Executive Summary 5
- Introduction 6
- Relationship with previous Constitution Unit work 7
- Acknowledgements 7
- 1. The recent record of London 8
- The changing London approach 8
- The fall in confidence within Northern Ireland 9
- Wider relations 10
- 2: Agenda for a new government: the overall approach 12
- Prospects 12
- A strategic approach 13
- The way the government works 13
- Relations with Dublin 14
- Civic society 15
- 3. Agenda for a new government: the immediate specific challenges 17
- Safeguarding the institutions23F 17
- The Protocol and the Windsor Framework27F 18
- The issues 18
- What a new government might do 19
- Good government and finance35F 20
- The issues: good government 20
- The issues: finance 22
- What a new government might do 23
- Reform of the institutions56F 25
- The issues 25
- What a new government might do 26
- Legacy64F 27
- The issues 27
- What a new government might do 29
- Policing71F 30
- The issues 30
- What a new government might do 30
- Continuing paramilitarism75F 31
- The issues 31
- What a new government might do 31
- Identity, language and rights77F 32
- The issues 32
- What a new government might do 33
- 4. Constitutional issues 34
- Background85F 34
- Union versus unity: the state of opinion92F 36
- The state of the pro-Union argument 37
- The state of the pro-unity argument 38
- London’s role 40
- Annex 1: The Agreement: the record to date 43
- How the Agreement came to be implemented 43
- The institutions, and Brexit 43
- The wider Agreement settlement 44
- Has the Agreement succeeded? 45
- Annex 2: Primer on Northern Ireland politics 47
- The Agreement 47
- Key processes and actors 48
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- NI report back page 51