5 October 2016
Belfast – Brexit High Court hearing concludes Thursday
THE OUTCOME of the ongoing legal challenge before the High Court in Belfast on the Brexit EU referendum result will be hugely important, Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd MLA has said.
The legal challenge – which is being taken jointly by Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and a number of human rights groups and figures – is currently being held in Belfast.
Tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day of the hearing, with a ruling expected in the time ahead.
Speaking to the media today before going into court, Upper Bann MLA John O'Dowd, Sinn Féin’s national spokesperson on Brexit, said that statements made at the annual conference by the British Tory Party, including plans to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017, make the case all the more important.
“One of the more worrying proposals announced by Tory ministers at the conference in Birmingham was for a register of workers,” he said. “How would that impact on the thousands of people who cross the Border for work each day?
“If we reach a stage where employers in Derry or Newry have to put together a register of workers from Donegal or Louth then it will have gone beyond the Pale.
“Warm words from [Secretary of State] James Brokenshire are meaningless against such ridiculous suggestions.”
He repeated Sinn Féin’s call for the vote of the people of the North to remain in the EU to be respected.
“We are facing into a very serious economic and political situation which has made the outcome of this court case all the more important.
“The people of the North voted to remain in the EU and that must be respected.”
Follow us on Facebook
An Phoblacht on Twitter
Uncomfortable Conversations
An initiative for dialogue
for reconciliation
— — — — — — —
Contributions from key figures in the churches, academia and wider civic society as well as senior republican figures