EU to approve united Ireland cause

The Irish Prime-minister (Taoiseach Enda) Kenny is going on Saturday to ask European Union leaders to agree that, if the people of Northern Ireland vote to join a united Ireland, the “entire territory” would immediately be part of the EU.

The prospects for a such solution emerge from the Good Friday agreement, which stopped the violence in the Northern Ireland connecting the future of the region with the will of its people. It states that the Norther Ireland would remain the part of the UK until the majority of both people in the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland decide otherwise.

The EU countries are expected to approve a declaration about the status of a united Ireland during a three-hour meeting in Brussels.
The draft declaration says: “The European Council acknowledges that the Good Friday Agreement expressly provides for an agreed mechanism whereby a united Ireland may be brought about through peaceful and democratic means. In this regard, the European Council acknowledges that, in accordance with international law, the entire territory of such a united Ireland would thus be part of the European Union.”

EU officials told The Irish Times last night that a statement, known in Brussels as the “Kenny text”, has already been approved in principle by all member states and “is going to be accepted”.