Sir, – Recently Alex Kane has asked whether or not the Belfast Agreement is worth saving (Opinion & Analysis, December 28th). For unionists, the answer to this must surely be a resounding yes. It can reasonably be claimed that the Belfast Agreement has given them greater constitutional security than at any time in the last century.
Even Craig and Brookeborough did not enjoy the constitutional advantages under the Belfast Agreement. The Government of Ireland Act of 1921 established Northern Ireland with its own parliament and government. Straightaway, however, the Anglo-Irish Treaty, agreed between the British and Irish governments, without unionist consent, included a boundary commission which could have drastically reduced the territory of Northern Ireland.
In the end this did not happen but it showed the constitutional vulnerability of the unionist position. This weakness was again revealed graphically when at the outbreak of the second World War the British government, over the heads of unionists, offered de Valera a united Ireland in return for the south joining the Allied war effort. Fortunately for unionists, de Valera turned down the offer.
The unionist position was strengthened after the war. Thanks to Northern Ireland’s contribution to the war effort and the declaration of an Irish Republic, the Ireland Act of 1949 declared that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the UK “without the consent of the Parliament of Northern Ireland”.
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In 1972, however, the Northern Ireland parliament was prorogued and direct rule introduced from Westminster. Efforts to provide stable government and an assembly or parliament proved unsuccessful. In 1998, the Belfast Agreement established new political arrangements for Northern Ireland.
These arrangements included important constitutional guarantees of Northern Ireland’s future. The Belfast Agreement acknowledged that “the present wish of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland . . . is to maintain the union” and that “it would be wrong to make any change to the status of Northern Ireland save with the consent of a majority of its people” (by voting in a border poll).
This constitutional status was ratified in subsequent British legislation. It was a stronger position than that stated under the 1949 Ireland Act which had talked of the consent of the Northern Ireland parliament. Unionist parties no longer have a majority in the Assembly but the recent political opinion poll reported in The Irish Times, (December 3rd and 4th) showed that a very clear majority of the people of Northern Ireland still support the union.
Crucially, these new constitutional arrangements were accepted by all the participants at the talks, unionist, nationalist, republican, Alliance and others. At referendums, north and south, the Belfast Agreement was approved by sizeable majorities. Important also were changes to the Irish Constitution which replaced territorial claims on Northern Ireland with acceptance of the principle of consent.
Unionists should view the Belfast Agreement as a win for them. Of course, nationalists and republicans should also view the Belfast Agreement as a win for them. These arrangements give them a clear democratic path to a united Ireland. If they win the support of a majority of the people in Northern Ireland and in the Irish Republic then a united Ireland will happen.
These new arrangements are a strong reason for unionists to fully back the Belfast Agreement. They should be confident enough to embrace not only their constitutional rights, but also other valuable features of the agreement, such as power-sharing, good north-south relations and rejection of violence. In April 2023, all parties should enthusiastically celebrate the Belfast Agreement and its many advantages for our divided society. – Yours, etc,
Prof Emeritus BRIAN M WALKER,
Belfast.