Northern Ireland: Brexit has blown apathy ‘out of the water’

Denis Bradley made an unusual confession in the Irish News: he voted Remain but hoped for a Leave result. He got his wish. While he does have some concerns about jobs and dissidents exploiting the outcome, he believes the result will be positive and galvanising.

Expanding on this comment for The Irish Times, the former vice-chairman of the North's policing board said a Remain vote would have been desirable but the earthquake of Leave would force people and politicians to reassess the various sets of relationships on these islands.

“Remain would have been bland. We would have kept going on with the apathy, and I think the apathy has been blown out of the water,” he said.

It certainly has. Derry, or the wider Foyle constituency, had the most Remain voters in Northern Ireland, 32,064 voting for in, 8,905 for out. In fact, apart from two London boroughs, it had the highest proportion in the UK.

Derry is EU to the core. It has received millions in funding from Brussels and Europhile supreme John Hume has used the European Union to promote the interests of Derry and of the peace process. The new EU-supported Peace Bridge over the Foyle is symbolic of that tight bond.

It is interesting and surprising therefore that Mr Bradley after a week of continuing financial and political convulsions would see opportunity rather than calamity.

Radical redefinition

“I am a committed European but I do believe that the Leave vote would force radical definitions or redefinitions or clear definitions around the relationships on these islands,” he said.

Mr Bradley recalled the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan recently visiting Derry and being surprised during a Brexit debate not to be asked about what voting out would mean for the Border. "That was because nobody in the nationalist community believes there ever will be a Border on this island again," said Mr Bradley.

“If there is any attempt to construct a hard Border I think the passions are so high that the people will pull it down.”

But then again just this past week at Stormont Mr Flanagan said while Dublin, Belfast and London didn't want Border controls he couldn't be sure that EU HQ would not insist that the diktats of trade and migration required such restrictions.

Jim Roddy, head of the Derry City Centre Initiative, also takes a less sanguine approach. "People are still dazed. The result did not just surprise people, it stunned them," he said.

The organisation helps keep trade and relationships ticking over in the city. He agreed with Mr Flanagan that the EU could demand Border restrictions regardless of the wishes of the British and Irish governments. He said Derry-Donegal was a “natural region” that was involved in many joint projects and now all that work could be jeopardised.

EU funding

Mr Roddy said the EU had been enormously beneficial for Derry, supporting jobs, infrastructure, community relations and investment. “Where will all that support come from now?

"We have to make sure that those people who made promises stick to those promises. They basically told us we would be net beneficiaries if we left Europe. I'd be gobsmacked if they deliver on that but we have to make sure that this city does not suffer," he said .

One Derry shopkeeper believed the result wouldn't make much difference to the ordinary punter but that the big EU subsidised farmers and businesses would be hit."Those on the breadline might have less mince as a result of Brexit but the superstars will have less prime beef steak," he said.