Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Constitutional Question?
A:
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c.47) is the current constitutional
statute for Northern Ireland. Part I of said Act repeats the approach
taken by 1973 that the law biding peoples of Northern Ireland decide the
fate of Northern Ireland.
It is also noted that a plebiscite was used to reinforce the legitimacy of
this statute and the complementary amendments to Articles 2 & 3 of the
Constitution of Ireland/Bunreacht Na hÉireann; thus it is argued that
Parliament has bound itself to how it can be changed:
§1(1) NIA 1998: - It is hereby declared that Northern Ireland in its entirety remains part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland voting in a poll...
It goes without saying that there will be those who support the status quo and those who don't. The next step is to agree to disagree on this issue and move on to common ground for our children's futures sake and ours.
Q: What is a Nationalist/Republican & a
Unionist/Loyalist?
A: Pre 1998, any A-level politics student would have been able to define
a Nationalist/Unionist as one putting political ideology before
religious zeal; vice versa for Unionist/Loyalist. Today
cross-community support is required by MLAs to make and break laws.
This implies that the above terms are interchangeable within the
boundaries of respective communities.
Q: What are the parameters of today's
society?
A: Since entry into the European Community (EC) in 1973 by both the UK
and Ireland we all have been subject to EC driven laws that all European
Union (EU) Member States are obliged to implement into domestic law. EU
citizenship gives additional rights to peoples of the member states and
complement their national citizenship thus its a common thread that
weaves through our society.