A chara, – Lord Kilclooney states (September 23rd): "It is scary that the European Parliament has a chief negotiator who ignores its decisions."
He is not happy with Guy Verhofstadt who, on a recent visit to the Border between counties Monaghan and Armagh, spoke in favour of the North having special status within the EU.
Lord Kilclooney is not used to hearing people of such integrity and standing in Europe speaking the truth about the artificial border in Ireland. Nor does he want to hear about the harm that Brexit will do to Irish farming and Irish business, which many in his own party now realise.
Mr Verhofstadt, who is already well informed, came to see for himself because he is concerned about the future of Ireland within the EU. He is also concerned about the Belfast Agreement now that negotiations have begun and the British have shown scant regard for its terms.
The vote to which Lord Kilclooney refers was taken earlier this year and has no legal standing whatsoever within the European Parliament or institutions. Mr Verhofstadt is under no obligation to abide by this vote. – Is mise,
Fr JOE McVEIGH,
Enniskillen,
Co Fermanagh.
Sir, – The immaturity of the Brexit debate is highlighted by Britain’s final payment to the EU where, on the one hand, the EU thinks that €60 billion is payable, and on the other hand Boris Johnson says the EU can go whistle for the money.
In our private lives, we would never pay a bill that wasn’t itemised and that we didn’t understand.
We would simply ask for more detail, and we would not engage in fruitless and hostile debate until we had the facts.
The exit bill proposed by the EU should be published and itemised in detail, so that we can all see exactly what the EU expects the British to pay for, and what the British might refuse to pay for. Only then can reasonable debate take place in the media and elsewhere. – Yours, etc,
MARY MORRISSEY,
Castletownbere,
Co Cork.