Brexit ‘shock wave’ being felt in Derry and Donegal joint meeting of MLAs and Senators told as more cross-border engagement is promised

MLAs from the Executive Office Committee joined senators from the Seanad Special Committee on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU to discuss continued cross-border cooperation on Tuesday.

Foyle MLA Martina Anderson told the committee people living in the north west were dealing with new impediments and red tape.

“My heart is at where my heart is at. I am minutes away from having one foot in Donegal and the other foot in Derry. I assure the committee that this is not just my opinion which I am expressing regarding trying to convince the people of the North in this respect.

“We have been dragged out of the EU against our express wishes. Things will happen which will have EU law attached to them, and we will have no say about the form and initiation of such undertakings because of the democratic deficit. In addition, we had only just been taken out of the EU when the British Government announced two weeks ago that it was doing a review of workers’ rights.

“I refer to those rights being under threat, such as the 48-hour week being re-examined. In that context, we are being told that our employment rights need to go, and we must now also have car insurance green cards to travel from Derry into Donegal. Those are some of the things which have been lost as a consequence of Brexit,” she remarked.

Several contributors, including Ms. Anderson said the continuity of cross-border access to the Altnagelvin radiotherapy unit which has not been affected by Brexit, was welcome.

Mid Ulster MLA Emma Sheerin said: “My mum is from Donegal. It does not make sense for anybody from her family in Donegal to travel to Dublin for treatment when they could travel 30 minutes up the road to Derry. Initiatives such as that are an example of using a sensible approach to deliver rights.”

Fine Gael senator Joe O’Reilly, who is from Cavan, agreed: “The point Ms. Sheerin made about Donegal, Derry and Altnagelvin hospital is eminently sensible. Practical health co-operation, joined-up thinking on health and joint services are matters that transcend politics, on which we can build good relations and that is a tangible thing.”

Ms. Anderson said people in the north west are already dealing with new obstacles when attempting to access services they had hitherto been able to avail of quite easily.

“Sometimes we do not know what we have until it is gone. Day after day, we hear more examples in this regard. A constituent was in contact with me last week because she wanted to get access to cross-border healthcare.

“She did not realise that she could not make that application anymore because of Brexit and that option was now lost to her. The realisation caused shock waves for her. I refer to Brexit not just being about trade, the customs union and the Single Market. People did not really understand the full implications. Workers are talking to us as well and asking how their rights will be upheld in this context,” she said.