Northern Irish party calls for plans for association with Republic of Ireland

Reuters Northern Irish party calls for plans for association with Republic of Ireland Yesterday at 21:18 Belfast, Apr 25 (Reuters) - A few days before the election in the British province of Northern Ireland, the Nationalist Party Sinn demands Sinn from the Republic of Ireland Planning for a possible association. Discussions are necessary about what the economy and a common health and education system of the Irish island could look like, said Sinn-Fein-politician Michelle O'Neill of the Reuters news agency. It was irresponsible from the government in Dublin not to make any preparations for it. A union could occur before the end of the decade. She did not want to commit a date for a possible referendum, but people know that a constitutional change would come. O'Neill was Northern Irish vice head of government and had to step down at the beginning of February when Prime Minister Paul Givan from the Protestant, pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) threw out against Brexit trade rules. When voting on May 5, O'Neill's Catholic party, according to Sinn Surse, could now be the first time in the government in Belfast, where representatives of the Catholic and Protestant camp always have to rule together. This provision is part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, with which the decades of violence in Northern Ireland could end. The predominantly Catholic nationalists strive for an association with the Republic of Ireland, the Protestant Unionists stand for remaining in the United Kingdom. The Good Friday Agreement also stipulates that a referendum can be scheduled if a majority for a union of Northern Ireland are emerging with the Republic of Ireland. "I think the Irish government has to focus on plans for a constitutional change," said O'Neill. "There must be a citizens' meeting. The EU exit Great Britain has awarded the Northern Ireland question to new explosiveness and, above all, led to discussions across the border between the British province and the EU member Ireland. At the Brexit referendum 2016, the Northern Irish voted for one Destwork in the EU.