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The devolved parliament in Belfast has rejected the British Government\u2019s EU withdrawal plan.<\/p>\nThe devolved parliament in Belfast has rejected the British Government\u2019s EU withdrawal plan.<\/p>\n
The position was agreed without dissent following a near three-hour debate in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
It was one of the first substantive acts of business since the assembly was restored earlier this month following the power-sharing deal.<\/p>\n
Its two largest parties are the DUP and Sinn F\u00e9in, who oppose the British Prime Minister\u2019s Brexit deal for different reasons.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland has been unable to speak without the authority of elected ministers throughout most of the debate over Brexit due to the three-year suspension of the devolved institutions.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in deputy first minister Michelle O\u2019Neill said: \u201cWe must work together with common cause to overcome the challenges that have been imposed on us by Brexit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Assembly has not given its consent to the British Government to legislate on our behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision by assembly members will not affect the Government\u2019s plan to leave the EU at the end of the month.<\/p>\n
Northern Ireland voted in favor of Remain in the 2016 EU referendum, but there was a significant body of mainly-unionist opinion in favor of Leave.<\/p>\n
The DUP is largely pro-Brexit, but opposes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s plan over fears it could impose customs checks on goods travelling between England, Scotland or Wales and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
DUP leader and Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster urged the Prime Minister to \u201cdeliver on his promise\u201d of unfettered access to the Great Britain market and ensure that \u201ccompetitiveness is maintained\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said the Brexit deal posed \u201csignificant challenges for Northern Ireland\u201d and called on Assembly members to \u201ctake a stand\u201d to show that it was \u201cback in business\u201d and will not be overruled by the British Government.<\/p>\n
Nationalists and businesses are keen to ensure the Irish land border remains open and frictionless, and are mostly in favor of remaining within the EU bloc.<\/p>\n
There have been fears leaving could encourage dissident republican violence or re-open the debate over Irish unity, since the Republic of Ireland remains a member state.<\/p>\n
Ms O\u2019Neill said an EU pledge which would see Northern Ireland regain EU membership in the event of unification was a key factor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has changed the context of the conversation and I think there is a very positive conversation under way now which is irreversible, I think that\u2019s where the whole political debate is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Nationalist SDLP leader Colum Eastwood attacked the Government\u2019s record on Brexit.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThey do not care about people here, they don\u2019t care about people in Scotland, and they are determined to go on with the madness that is this Brexit.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext week we will be dragged out of the European Union against our will, against the will of people here and people in Scotland. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important that we\u2019re here, that\u2019s why it\u2019s important that we\u2019re rejecting it.\u201d<\/p>\n