Sinn Féin has hit back against calls from John Bruton, the former taoiseach, to take its seats in Westminster by insisting it had a commitment to its voters.
Mr Bruton said Ireland’s case needed to be made when Brexit legislation is brought before the British parliament on September 7. Sinn Féin won seven Westminster seats in the general election, compared with ten for the Democratic Unionist Party, which is pro-Brexit. Speaking on the RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Mr Bruton urged Sinn Féin to drop its policy of abstentionism. He said: “The big problem is that there’s no nationalist representation in the House of Commons because Sinn Féin declined to take their seats.
“Therefore there will be nobody to put forward amendments that might make for a less deep border.”
David Cullinane, Sinn Féin’s Brexit spokesman, said the Tories had already rejected the wishes of the people in Northern Ireland and Scotland who voted against Brexit.
“Taking our seats will not change the course of government,” Mr Cullinane said. “The nationalist people in the North have overwhelmingly turned their backs on Westminster and voted for an-all Ireland approach. That vote should be respected.
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“The reality is that imposing an EU frontier on Ireland will be detrimental to all the people, our economy and our agreements. The Irish government must adopt and secure the position endorsed by the Dáil for the North to be designated special status within the EU.”
After the election Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader, said nationalists in Northern Ireland had voted for Sinn Féin over the SDLP on the basis that they would not be taking their seats.
The results of the election, in which the SDLP lost all of its three seats, meant it was the first time there was no Irish nationalist representation in London since 1830.
Westminster remains the parliament boycotted by Sinn Féin because it said that no republican could swear allegiance to the Queen as head of state.
Mr Bruton said that while it looked likely that Brexit would happen, “we have to do everything we can to stop it happening, if we can”. He said: “Really, it is the English. They have to change their opinion. They have initiated Brexit. The opinion in Northern Ireland was against Brexit and the opinion in Scotland was against Brexit. That has been overruled.”
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Mr Bruton said that the DUP should be more upfront with its own Brexit ideas. “Some hard questions have to be asked. What sort of Brexit do they want? Do they want the UK in the customs union? What sort of agricultural policy do they want, because that will be very important at the border?”
The Times reported last week that Ireland was pushing for the Irish Sea to become the post-Brexit border with the UK. Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, told British ministers that their idea of a technical solution to allow free trade to continue between the North and South was unworkable.
A senior British government source said that Ireland’s attitude had hardened since Leo Varadkar succeeded Enda Kenny as taoiseach.
Theresa May’s decision to leave the customs union after Brexit means that the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic could become a smuggling route. Neither government wants onerous border checks, however.