Possible Implications for the Sisters of Mercy Northern Province and Brexit.
I remember sitting up most of the night watching the results of the Referendum on whether the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland would vote to be in or out of the European Union. As a member of a province which straddles both sides of the border, I was naturally concerned and more so when I thought about the implications of an EXIT vote.
Ireland, as our Celtic history reflects, has always been an integral part of Europe. St. Columbanus, the Irish missionary who shared his faith across Europe, was famously the first person to describe himself as a “European”. Columbanus and his followers established more than 100 centres of learning throughout the continent. Whether we live in the Republic or Northern Ireland we are historically European and our young people get this concept clearly!
In 1998, for the first time since the British imposed partition in 1922, the people of Ireland, North and South, joined together in voting for change in the referendum known as the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement replaced decades of conflict and injustice (lived through by many of us who resided North of the border), with a deal that put power-sharing and equality at the heart of government. The Agreement was endorsed by 71 percent of people in the North and 94 percent in the South of Ireland. History was made and work began to establish all island institutions that for nearly two decades have secured peace and justice in Ireland.
That achievement and legacy is now at some risk due to the shock victory of pro-Brexit campaigners. In the vote about remaining or staying in the European Union, voters in the North voted by 55 percent to stay in the Union. Voters in Scotland also voted by 52 percent to remain, while people in England and Wales voted in favour of an exit. The exit vote has caused turmoil in the markets, with the value of sterling falling sharply.
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Deirdre Mullan, rsm
Northern Province
