Last week, thirteen Irish Members of the European Parliament made a request that would have been unthinkable to their grandparents’ generation: for Northern Ireland to be granted special observer status in the European Parliament.
The seemingly modest proposal is part of a huge change happening across the Irish Sea. In a letter to Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the MEPs explained that because the Windsor Framework keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods, its people deserve a voice. The precedent they point to is a powerful one: the reunification of Germany in 1990.
An Island’s Economy, Rewired by Brexit
In 2016, the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union was a shock to almost everyone. On polling day, betting markets put the odds of a Leave victory at 16 to 1. But as the results came in, financial markets tumbled amid a political earthquake.
Northern Ireland’s 56 percent vote to Remain was swept aside by the final UK count.
The Brexit agreements that followed have brought about a new economic reality on the island of Ireland. Today, goods flow freely between Belfast and Dublin, producing a customs border in the Irish Sea. The situation has had a major effect on trade, bolstering the all-island economy.
As political scientist Donnacha Ó Beacháin told the Christian Science Monitor, “Economically, Northern Ireland is more directly linked to the republic than at any other juncture before.”
The change hasn’t been welcomed by everyone. “Northern Ireland needs freedom from EU shackles, not new connections to Brussels,” said Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson. But the reality is that the “shackles” were put in place by Westminster’s choices.
A Union in Question: Changing Mindsets
The economic changes are apparent in public opinion. A February 2025 LucidTalk poll found backing for reunification has climbed to 41 percent, narrowing the lead for those who prefer the Union to seven points.
The ARINS/Irish Times annual survey records a similar trend, with backing for unity in Northern Ireland steadily growing, reaching 34 percent in 2024.
Perhaps the most telling change is in the Protestant community. Nearly three in ten Northern Protestants now say they would “happily accept” a referendum result in favour of Irish unity.
Nigel Lindsay, a Protestant bicycle shop owner in Cookstown, said he would vote for reunification because he believes “people would be better off, especially the younger generation.”
The opinion echoes a wider sentiment. “It’s been chipping away over the decades,” said Kieran Harrigan, a retired construction manager.
“There’s a mood change in Ireland to a united Ireland.”
A Blueprint for Unity? Lessons from History and Politics
History contains examples of political circumstances changing with surprising speed. Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy drew a parallel to another unexpected event.
“Things in politics can move very, very quickly,” he said. “I don’t think too many people in Berlin in 1988 were predicting the fall of the Berlin barrier in ’89.”
The German precedent is instructive. After the Berlin barrier fell, East Germany was integrated into the European Economic Community without needing a new treaty. The process was swift and straightforward.
With that in mind, Dublin secured a guarantee from Brussels during the Brexit talks. If Ireland were to unify, Northern Ireland would automatically and immediately rejoin the EU.
“There would be no messy negotiations,” noted Ó Beacháin. “If you are interested in rejoining the European Union, reunification is a direct method for doing that.”
The idea is gaining political momentum. Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald predicted in early 2024 that referendums on unity would happen “in this decade.” Even the symbolic realm echoes the change.
Ireland’s new president, Catherine Connolly, who won a decisive victory in October, campaigned on planning for unity and has referred to Northern Ireland as a “limb” cut from the Republic.
British officials remain dismissive. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn called the prospect of a border poll “way off in the distance.”
The Unintended Consequence of Brexit
A familiar sense of security surrounds Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, but the prevailing assumptions about the Union’s permanence could prove misplaced as the ground steadily changes beneath it.
The push for observer status in the EU is part of the changing circumstances. DUP peer Lord Dodds called the proposal “a ruse designed to bring Northern Ireland ever closer to the EU and Dublin.”
He may be right about the goal, but the contradiction is that the very mechanism making it possible was built by the architects of Brexit.
In their quest to restore British sovereignty, they produced economic and political conditions that could, one day, lead to the dissolution of the United Kingdom itself.
Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates!
Read also:
From Belfast to Gaza: Britain’s Attempt to Export Good Friday
Rochdale: Britain Risks Importing America’s Mistakes on Crime and Ethnicity
Beyond Brexit: Why Europe Needs the Best of British
