Ireland’s deputy prime minister has condemned the Labour MP Kate Hoey for “reckless” and “irresponsible” remarks after she declared that the Good Friday agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland 20 years ago, was “unsustainable”.
Her comments, coming swiftly after similar comments made by the former Conservative Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson and pro-Brexit MEP Daniel Hannan, were also roundly condemned by the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Smith, who questioned their timing.
The row comes as British and EU negotiators start two days of talks in Brussels, concentrating on Ireland and the Irish border on Tuesday.
Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, said on Tuesday morning that talking down the peace accord that led to the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries laying down their arms potentially undermined peace in the region.
Talking down Good Friday Agreement because it raises serious and genuine questions of those pursuing #Brexit is not only irresponsible but reckless and potentially undermines the foundations of a fragile peace process in Northern Ireland that should never be taken for granted
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) February 20, 2018
Her remarks came as an intense round of political and diplomatic activity begins in Dublin, Belfast and London in an effort to restart talks to restore the Northern Ireland assembly after the collapse of negotiations last week. Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, will make a statement in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon.
“I think there is a need for a cold rational look at the Belfast agreement,” Hoey said in the Huffington Post on Monday. “Mandatory coalition is not sustainable in the long term … We need to face reality – Sinn Féin don’t particularly want a successful Northern Ireland. They want a united Ireland,” she continued.
Hoey, from Antrim, is a staunch supporter of Brexit and sits on the Commons Northern Ireland affairs select committee.
Smith questioned the timing of Hoey’s remarks.
.@KateHoeyMP @OwenPaterson & @DanielJHannan are reckless & utterly wrong to question the value and sustainability of the Good Friday Agreement. Their concerted, transparent effort to undermine the GFA is driven by their blind, misplaced faith in Brexit. They should know better.
— Owen Smith (@OwenSmith_MP) February 19, 2018
Peter Hain, a former Northern Ireland secretary who was involved in the process in which the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries lay down their arms, said the remarks showed Brexiters were “willing to sacrifice almost anything on the altar of a hard Brexit” while Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, described them as “deplorable”.
The attack on the Good Friday agreement started at the weekend after an article by Hannan in the Telegraph. Tweeting the piece, Paterson remarked that the agreement had “outlived its use”.
“Their concerted, transparent effort to undermine the GFA is driven by their blind, misplaced faith in Brexit. They should know better,” said Smith.
On Monday evening, Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, urged Bradley to set a budget and take key decisions about the region’s schools, hospitals and infrastructure.