Originally Posted by
Dubbag
The former Irish prime minister and joint architect of the Northern Ireland peace process Bertie Ahern has said it is imperative that any Brexit solution be acceptable to the Democratic Unionist party.
His intervention is a rare warning by a prominent politician in the Republic of Ireland that imposing a deal not supported by the DUP, such as one with a Northern-Ireland-only backstop, would imperil a lasting solution.
Ahern said the principle of “parity of esteem”, one of the core stated values of the 1998 Good Friday agreement, was not just for nationalists and anything that was not backed by both communities in Northern Ireland would be doomed to failure.
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“Any solution has to include the unionist people because parity of esteem in the Good Friday agreement is both sides; to do a deal through Europe with Britain that creates a problem for the unionist community and will be rejected by the English nationalists in the Commons – that’s not really an option,” he said.
Ahern’s comments came as the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, demanded a meeting with Boris Johnson amid fears he is prepared to back a Northern-Ireland-only backstop, which her party rejected in 2017.