Greg Daly“Uncertainty reigns in Ireland,” in the aftermath of the UK’s vote to quit the European Union, Down and Connor’s Bishop Noel Treanor has said.
Speaking in Brussels at the plenary session of COMECE, the European bishops’ conference, Dr Treanor drew attention to how Britain’s June 23 ‘Brexit’ vote might impact on Ireland, observing that among the effects of the vote was that “young people in particular feel disenfranchised”.
His comments echo those of Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown who warned last month that young unemployed Catholics could feel resentful towards Britain if the North is forced out of the EU despite voting 56-44 to remain in the Union.
The bishop’s comments came during a short session on Brexit, in which Birmingham’s auxiliary bishop William Kenney, delegate of the England and Wales Bishops’ Conference, said that since the referendum there has been “very little clarity as to what is going to happen or what consequences will ensue”.
Discussions
He called on the Church to give a voice to the marginalised and underprivileged in the coming discussions, while a fellow English bishop, Westminster’s auxiliary Bishop Nicholas Hudson, said he was particularly concerned by rising levels of hate crimes against foreigners in Britain since the vote, saying, “we as Church need to firmly condemn these crimes”.
According to a diocesan spokesman, Dr Treanor outlined various ways Brexit might affect the North, the Republic, and Ireland as a whole. The bishop spoke about the potential impact and consequences of Brexit on the political situation in Ireland, in particular the extent to which the hardness or softness of the new border in Ireland between the UK and the EU would be significant both for the Peace Process and for the Republic of Ireland.
The bishop went on to discuss the potential impacts Brexit might have on foreign direct investment, the economy, employment and society, the spokesman continued, as well as on the flow of European funds into infrastructural development, universities and research.
Concerns
Speaking on behalf of Scotland’s episcopal conference, Aberdeen’s Bishop Hugh Gilbert echoed concerns about the lack of clarity around the Brexit vote. Briefly analysing the motivations for the vote, and in particular Scotland’s firm vote to remain within the EU, the bishop said “there is rather a pervasive uncertainty”.