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Ireland’s T\u00e1naiste has fired a warning at the UK after a senior Brexiteer said a future referendum on a united Ireland would require a “super-majority”.<\/p>\n
Miche\u00e1l Martin has warned that UK Government ministers “need to be careful” when discussing future votes on the status of Ireland following comments from Steve Baker, a minister for the Northern Ireland Office.<\/p>\n
Mr Baker suggested that any referendum on joining the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland would need a “super-majority” following the UK’s experience with Brexit.<\/p>\n
Despite prominently supporting the departure from the EU, the former European Research Group (ERG) chair said a more conclusive result would be needed than what delivered the leave vote in 2016.<\/p>\n
In response, Mr Martin has warned officials not to rail against constitutional changes “endorsed by the people of the island”.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Fears young people will ‘force United Ireland’ because they ‘want return to EU’<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking to BBC News NI today, Mr Martin said people can’t “rewrite agreements on the hoof”.<\/p>\n He added: “You can’t say: ‘Well, you need 60 percent for this or 70 percent for that’ – referendums are referendums.<\/p>\n “These are very fundamental constitutional changes that were endorsed by the people of the island, it’s a very important point – we can’t just casually dismiss that.”<\/p>\n Mr Baker made his super-majority proposal after stating he regretted the Brexit referendum did not require a 60 percent support threshold, with the Leave vote having won by a slim 3.78 percent margin.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> But requiring a super-majority would go against the agreed policy for a future referendum on uniting Ireland.<\/p>\n At present, the requirement is the same as Brexit’s was in 2016, a simple majority of 50 percent plus one.<\/p>\n Mr Baker’s comparison of a future referendum on Ireland with Brexit is not the first in recent months, with a study having found earlier this year that the vote to leave the EU makes Irish unity even more likely.<\/p>\n
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