Brexit and the Northern Ireland Constitution considers the intersection of two processes: the complex and constitutional process of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union - Brexit - and the steady yet fragile development of the Northern Ireland constitution deriving, primarily, from the Belfast 'Good Friday' Agreement of 1998. Interdisciplinary in approach, the analysis draws on legal and political theory to develop a novel framework for assessing the progressive impact of Brexit on the Northern Ireland constitution based on systematic definitions of both. This approach elucidates dynamics and implications not yet considered in the otherwise extensive debates about Brexit and its impacts on Northern Ireland. Based on detailed analysis of the Brexit process it is argued that its impact on the constitution of Northern Ireland has been profound. Fundamentally, Brexit changed the political and legal environment in which the Northern Ireland constitution had existed for over twenty years. Embracing 'constructive ambiguity' the 1998 Agreement recognises and accommodates the concerns of both unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland; it did not therefore solve the constitutional conflict but rather allowed it to be managed differently through an innovative system of multileveled governance: within Northern Ireland (power-sharing devolution), on the island of Ireland (North-South cooperation), and between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland (East-West cooperation) all underpinned by a multifaceted principle of constitutional, popular, and cross-community consent. By forcing a paradigmatic shift in the way that the systems of government established by the 1998 Agreement operate, Brexit disrupted the 'constructively ambiguous' compromise that it represents. Completed two years after the legal implementation of UK withdrawal from the EU, Whitten concludes by considering the potential longer-term constitutional repercussions of Brexit both within and beyond Northern Ireland's (recently notorious) borders.

Evaluates the pressures, both institutional and territorial, that Brexit exerts on both the United Kingdom and Irish constitutional orders.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. How does Brexit change Northern Ireland’s system of government? Could it unravel crucial parts of Northern Ireland’s peace process? What are the wider implications of the arrangements for the Irish and UK constitutions? Northern Ireland presents some of the most difficult Brexit dilemmas. Negotiations between the UK and the EU have set out how issues like citizenship, trade, the border, human rights and constitutional questions may be resolved. But the long-term impact of Brexit isn’t clear. This thorough analysis draws upon EU, UK, Irish and international law, setting the scene for a post-Brexit Northern Ireland by showing what the future might hold.

The UK's decision to leave the EU has opened up huge existential questions for Northern Ireland as it marks its centenary. Constitutional conflict in Northern Ireland had been regarded as largely resolved and settled, but Brexit has altered the wider constitutional framework within which the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is situated. With the question of Irish unity gaining renewed and sustained traction, and with trade, relationships and politics across "these islands" in a state of flux, Northern Ireland approaches a constitutional moment. Murphy and Evershed examine the factors, actors and dynamics that are most likely to be influential, and potentially transformative, in determining Northern Ireland's constitutional future. This book offers an assessment of how Brexit and its fallout may lead to constitutional upheaval, and a cautionary warning about the need to prepare for it.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. How does Brexit change Northern Ireland’s system of government? Could it unravel crucial parts of Northern Ireland’s peace process? What are the wider implications of the arrangements for the Irish and UK constitutions? Northern Ireland presents some of the most difficult Brexit dilemmas. Negotiations between the UK and the EU have set out how issues like citizenship, trade, the border, human rights and constitutional questions may be resolved. But the long-term impact of Brexit isn’t clear. This thorough analysis draws upon EU, UK, Irish and international law, setting the scene for a post-Brexit Northern Ireland by showing what the future might hold.

Since the 1950s, European integration has included ever more countries with ever-softening borders between them. In its apparent reversal of integration and its recreation of borders, Brexit intensifies deep-seated tensions, both institutional and territorial, within and between the constitutional orders of the United Kingdom and Ireland. In this book, leading scholars from the UK and Ireland assess the pressures exerted by Brexit, from legal, historical, and political perspectives. This book explores the territorial pressures within the UK constitution, connecting them to the status of Northern Ireland before exploring how analogous territorial pressures might be addressed in a united Ireland. The book also critically analyses the Brexit process within the UK, drawing on Irish comparative examples, to assess unresolved tensions between popular mandate, legislative democracy, and executive responsibility. Through practical application, this book explores how constitutions function under the most intense political pressures.

This book examines the law and politics of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, attached to the Withdrawal Agreement, which regulates the terms of Brexit. The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland deals with the most complex issue which emerged during the withdrawal negotiations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), namely how to avoid a hard border in the island of Ireland and preserve the peace process started in Northern Ireland with the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement. To this end, the Protocol, which was agreed in its final form in October 2019, establishes a bespoke solution, notably by keeping Northern Ireland aligned to EU customs and internal market rules. Nevertheless, the operation of the Protocol, which has formally entered into force in January 2021, has stirred political controversies in the Unionist community in Northern Ireland, and caused diplomatic confrontation between the EU and the UK. The purpose of this book is therefore to provide the first interdisciplinary overview of the Protocol, shedding light on its context, content, and challenges. This book — which brings together contributions by leading legal scholars, political scientists, sociologists, and trade experts from Northern Ireland, Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, and the United States — provides a comprehensive and contextual assessment of the Protocol. It examines its setting, including constitutional trends in the UK and Ireland, focuses on its substantive clauses dealing with human rights and cross-border cooperation, as well as on those related to trade, and analyses its governance mechanisms, including democratic consent and safeguards.