On Monday the Constitution Society went on the road to Belfast to host two panel talks on the legacy of the Brexit vote for Northern Ireland 10 years after the EU Referendum.
On a blustery March afternoon, members of the public made their way up to the impressive third floor atrium space of Ulster University’s Belfast campus, brought together for the event as part of the Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics which ran across the week.
In the chair was former Constitution Society Research Fellow Dr David McCann, who quickly called to the stage the first panel, made up of the academics, Professors Katy Hayward, Stephen Farry and Jon Tonge.
In their opening reflections, they agreed there had been a lack of forethought ahead of the referendum in (and regarding) Northern Ireland. In particular, it should be remembered that the Assembly elections which immediately preceded the vote had taken up much of the political oxygen, such that when the campaign began, it was relatively muted. While this perhaps encouraged a more considered debate than was seen in the rest of the United Kingdom, there was a sense of Northern Ireland sleepwalking into the vote. When considering such votes in the future, it might be thought wise to schedule them some distance from important national or devolved elections.
Certainly, Westminster seemed remarkably ignorant of the potential consequences of a Leave vote for Northern Ireland. In the years since, we have seen a range of potential mitigations or solutions to that problem, which have culminated in the present Windsor Framework. Professor Hayward reflected on this journey and the quite “extraordinary” position in which Northern Ireland now finds itself.
Public questions at the end of the panel focused primarily on the future: considering the UK’s relationship with the EU and lessons which might be learned for future referenda. While the panel agreed that UK re-entry to the European Union was unlikely in the short to medium term, there was a sense that there were things to be taken, good and bad, from Northern Ireland’s experience of the EU referendum. In particular, though, the panel felt sure more attention needed to be paid to the potential outcomes of future referenda to ensure the state was prepared whichever way the public voted, and that this had perhaps been lacking in the case of the vote ten years ago.
After a short break the next panel was welcomed. This panel was composed of journalists who had been at the centre of the reporting of the referendum in Northern Ireland: Mark Devenport, Allison Morris and Sam McBride. In beginning, David McCann asked whether any of them had expected the leave vote. Each confessed they had been shocked by the result at the time, but that, reflecting, there had perhaps been signs of what was to come.
Moving beyond the vote itself, all reflected a degree of disappointment in the external reporting of Northern Irish politics which had followed the vote, where a degree of ignorance had led to sensationalist portrayals of Northern Irish politics and politicians. Dr McCann also asked whether the panel felt, post-referendum, that a referendum was a useful mechanism for deciding such important matters. Here, the panel felt fundamentally that we’d reached an irreversible constitutional status for referenda in deciding issues like EU membership. However, they agreed that Northern Ireland’s experience post-vote perhaps provided a cautionary tale for future referenda. While lessons might be learned, and Brexit perhaps meant there was a greater political appetite for future constitutional referenda, the fallout of Brexit for Northern Ireland may have paradoxically made these less likely.
Constitution Society Director of Research Dr Dexter Govan closed out the event, thanking Dr McCann, both panels, and the Society’s partners for the event, Ulster University and the Imagine! Festival. After such engaging discussions, he expressed hope the Society would be returning for similar events in the near future.
The Constitution Society is committed to public education on the constitution. This event, which was free to attend for all, is part of a range of work on the 10th anniversary of the Brexit Referendum which the Society is supporting this year. Keep a look out for a range of events across the UK, as well as forthcoming book on the subject. For now, Society reports on the consequences of Brexit for the economy and immigration are available to read for free on our website. The Society is extremely grateful to both Ulster University and the Imagine! Festival for their partnership in the event.
The Constitution Society is committed to the promotion of informed debate and is politically impartial. Any views expressed in this article are the views of the panel speakers and not those of The Constitution Society.