Taoiseach Enda Kenny was fully entitled to comment on the repercussions of a British exit from the EU for Northern Ireland, according to Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Mr McGuinness said it was "ludicrous" to suggest that Mr Kenny was not entitled to express concern about the implications of Brexit for the Northern Irish economy and its inpact on trade, North and South.
Last week, DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds took issue with comments Mr Kenny made during a visit to London where he met British prime minister David Cameron. Mr Kenny said that the UK leaving the European Union would cause serious difficulties for Northern Ireland.
Mr Dodds said he could understand that other EU leaders were interested in the issue, but "the decision of whether the United Kingdom should stay in or leave the EU is entirely a decision for the people of the United Kingdom and no one else. For politicians outside the United Kingdom to tell us how to vote and lecture us as to what is best for Northern Ireland is disrespectful and will be counterproductive.
“I trust that Enda Kenny will keep this in mind when making future comments about the EU referendum,” he said.
Fundamentally disagreed
During a visit to west
Cork
, Mr McGuinness took issue with Mr Dodds’s comments and said he fundamentally disagreed with the view that the Taoiseach was not entitled to comment on matters relating to the North.
"It's just ludicrous to suggest the Taoiseach isn't entitled to comment publicly on the repercussions of a British withdrawal from Europe – in my opinion it would have very grave consequences for the island of Ireland and for us in the North," he said.Mr McGuinness said that it was his sense that those among the Unionist community were opposed to Britain exiting the EU as the business community in particular believed that the EU offered important trading opportunities.
“The unionist political parties like to see themselves as parties of business -– the reality is that the CBI [(in Northern Ireland)] assessed its membership and 90per cent of them are opposed to exit from Europe and I think that says it all,” he said.
Mr McGuinness said he had no doubt but that if Brexit was put to the people of Northern Ireland in a referendum, they would reject it and, while he could not speak for the people of Scotland, he had a sense that they too would reject it which would have serious ramifications for Westminister.
“I can’t speak for Scotland but listening to what the Scottish Nationalist Party are saying I think that [(BREXIT)]would have very grave ramifications for Scotland - my sense of it is that they would try for another referendum on independence which, on this occasion, would, in all probability, be won.”
