Fr Joe McVeigh RMG55
FERMANAGH’S interests will be well represented at the All Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit today, despite the First Minister’s refusal to attend the event.
Fr Joe McVeigh, one of the Fermanagh representatives in the group, said the group had been getting a very good reaction locally and internationally, attracting media attention from Sky News, The Guardian and La Figaro , and had plenty of plans for the future, such as a massive conference planned for February.
Referring to First Minister Arlene Foster’s refusal to attend today’s Dublin forum, and to the fact she reportedly called those are attending “remoaners” last week, Fr McVeigh said he was “not surprised.”
“Arlene is playing to her own audience,” he said. “Her whole attitude is all wrong. I would hope she’d stop being so political and look at the economic facts.”
After requesting to be allowed to attend the meeting, which is due do bring together leaders from business, civic society and politics, the Border Communities Against Brexit campaign group will travelling to the event in Dublin today.
Spokesman for the group, Declan Fearon, said as a group of people from all sectors of the border counties, they believed they should be represented at the forum.
“We thought we had a right to be amongst the civic society groups, trade unions, business people, non-governmental organisations and the main political parties on the island of Ireland invited to participate in the discussions set to take place in Dublin,” he said, explaining they had written to an Taoiseach Enda Kenny, requesting to be allowed to attend and participate in the proceedings.
Mr Fearon, who will be travelling to represent the group, continued: “We are made up of, and represent, ordinary people and if Brexit goes ahead it will be the ordinary people in our communities who will pay the price, through job losses, loss of farm incomes, arrears to our students third level education and the loss of vital EU Peace funding.
“I have been advised that the session is highly participatory and I am more than prepared to go along and not only represent the group, but to represent the 440,707 people in the North who voted to remain within the EU.
“Our votes should be respected and our wishes to remain must be upheld. We want to make sure our voices are heard in Dublin, London and Brussels and our involvement in the discussions on Wednesday is a step towards that.”
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