Our Beliefs: Co-Operation
We believe in closer economic and political ties and deeper co-operation between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
We believe, despite their turbulent shared history, it is in the best interest of both the Republic of Ireland and the UK as a whole, that they formalise and strengthen their already solid political, economic, social and cultural links.
With travel (and consequently cross-border criminality) never having been easier nor cheaper between the two countries than it is today, we believe it is essential that there is the closest cooperation between the police forces of the two countries.
We believe also, due to this ease of travel between the two states and the fact that both Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom operate outside the Schengen Agreement, that a common immigration and asylum policy would be beneficial to both states.
It has been shown within the European Union that that countries working together, even on an informal basis (e.g. the Visegrad 4), can achieve many more of their objectives than by acting individually. We believe that on those issues where Irish and British interests coincide, a joint and united approach should be taken towards the wider negotiations.
There are already strong economic ties between the two states, however we believe these should be formalised in the setting up of shared practises and joint institutions, where the economies of scale dictate a potential benefit. An example of this could be the creation of a joint stock-exchange or the introduction of common mobile-telephone roaming rights between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
With many first and second generation Irish living in Britain and many in the Republic of Ireland also possessing grandparents born before 1920 (i.e. before the creation if the Irish Free State), we believe that it would be an appropriate symbolic gesture for the United Kingdom to offer the opportunity of a United Kingdom passport to the afore-mentioned groups. The UK has never completely viewed the Free State/Republic of Ireland as a ‘foreign’ country (in the truest sense of the word), either legally or culturally, and we believe that these people (like citizens of Northern Ireland) have the right to be considered as Irish, British or indeed, both.
We also feel that he time is right for the Republic to consider the question of rejoining the Commonwealth. As mentioned at the beginning of this section, the Republic, like many present members of the organisation, has shared an often troubled history with Britain. The Commonwealth is however now home to more than 30 per cent of the world's population, including many millions of Irish descent in countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. About one quarter of world trade takes place between the countries in the Commonwealth and by joining, the Republic of Ireland would also receive cultural, political, social and sporting benefits However, we believe that the decision whether to ultimately join the Commonwealth should be one taken by the citizens of the Republic by the means of a referendum.
Northern Ireland, as the part of the United Kingdom closest geographically to the Republic, would obviously gain from the above measures.
But we also believe that ever closer ties between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland can change the parameters of political discussion within Northern Ireland itself.
As this rapprochement continues, Unionists will no longer be able to point to an anti-British ethos within the Republic of Ireland as an over-riding reason for maintaining the link with the United Kingdom. This should help remove some of the sectarianism and tribalism from internal Northern Irish politics and move the debate more towards socio-economic issues.