Two former British prime ministers placed their political rivalries aside today to warn voters that having the United Kingdom leave the European Union would be mistake that could undermine the Northern Ireland peace deal and jeopardize the unity of the UK itself.
Former leaders John Major and Tony Blair shared a platform at the Ulster University's campus in Londonderry to underscore their concern that a decision to leave the 28-nation bloc in the June 23 referendum would shake a fragile peace deal. Both men were instrumental in forging a peace process in Northern Ireland after years of conflict.
Major, the former Conservative leader, worked alongside the Irish government to spur the Irish Republican Army's 1994 cease-fire, while his successor Blair, the former Labour leader, opened the door for the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party to enter negotiations on Northern Ireland's future that produced the British territory's 1998 peace pact.
Today, the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein help lead a unity government alongside leaders of the British Protestant majority.
"I believe it would be an historic mistake to do anything that has any risk of destabilizing the complicated and multi-layered constitutional settlement that underpins stability in Northern Ireland," Major said.
Blair also underscored the danger to the peace process, arguing that investors would be less likely to invest, jeopardizing a key element of stability.
"We understand that, although today Northern Ireland is more stable and more prosperous than ever, that stability is poised on carefully constructed foundations," he said. "And so we are naturally concerned at the prospect of anything that could put those foundations at risk."
The Good Friday agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland reflects the reality that both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are part of the European Union. The settlement includes the creation of cross-border institutions to promote cooperation and a British exit would make it harder to keep these programs going.
Both also warned that a British exit or Brexit as it is known could lead to the breakup of the UK, which is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The fear is that Scots would vote to remain in the EU, while other parts of Britain would vote to leave a split that could trigger another referendum for Scottish independence.
"If we throw the pieces of the constitutional jigsaw up in to the air, no one can be certain where they might land," Major said.
