Michelle O'Neill.
By Anthony Neeson
Sinn Féin’s new leader in the North, Michelle O’Neill, has written to all European heads of state making the case for Northern Ireland to remain in the European Union.
O’Neill has stated that the UK’s Brexit negotiations - now given the go-ahead as a result of a vote at Westminster - will define this period of history for the island of Ireland.
“Brexit will be a catastrophe for the entire island of Ireland,” O’Neill said.
“It will introduce a European frontier across Ireland and fundamentally undermine the agreements and all-Ireland institutions, which underpin our peace process,” she said at the launch of her party’s election campaign.
“Fifty-six percent of the North voted to ‘Remain’ but I am confident that, as the true extent of the impending disaster becomes clear, more and more people, both unionist and nationalist, are looking to Sinn Féin as the only party with serious proposals to retain our European status.
And O’Neill continued: “They are seeing for themselves that Britain has no interest in our interests. And those parties, which foolishly hitched themselves to the Tories’ Brexit apron strings, will live to rue that decision.
“Our proposals are credible and realizable.
“And British Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, has absolutely no credibility in ruling out our demand for special status. I’ve news for James. It won’t be your decision. It will be the other member states which decide the terms of Brexit.”
O’Neill said that this was why she took the decision to write to 27 EU heads of states to make the Sinn Féin case.
“That is why Sinn Féin is on a diplomatic offensive the length and breadth of Europe where there is a hell of a lot more sympathy for our case than there is for the right wing, anti-immigrant agenda which fuelled the Brexit fiasco in the first place,” she said.
“So I would again call on all pro-Remain parties to join us in that offensive.
“Anyone who is serious about defending the interests of their constituents needs to get serious about defending their place in Europe.”
