Abstract


İRLANDA SORUNU’NUN TARİHSEL KÖKLERİ VE BREXIT SONRASI İRLANDA SORUNU: BİRLEŞİK BİR KRALLIK MI, BİRLEŞİK BİR İRLANDA MI?

There are two Irish countries on the Island of Ireland, one is independent and the other is dependent on the United Kingdom (UK). These two countries have been integrated for half a century to the extent permitted by the integration opportunities provided by the European Union (EU) membership. However, after the Brexit referendum held in June 2016, the UK has finally decided to withdraw from the EU. The Brexit referendum has produced a result that reflects the will to remain within the EU for Northern Ireland, which is affiliated to the United Kingdom, and therefore to maintain the status of integration within the Union with the Republic of Ireland. This result was the beginning of a new era for the British countries, which have been together under the roof of the EU for a long time. As a result of the referendum, as the Scottish people’s decisive will to remain in the EU rather like the Northern Ireland, displayed a trend that contradicts the withdrawal decision that emerged with a slight difference across the UK. Thus, the longstanding independence debates in these two countries came to the fore again. The fact that the Brexit referendum was carried out with a centralist tendency and an imposing propaganda process reflecting the British hegemony has been a factor that fueled these discussions. In the case of Northern Ireland, this process is also supported by the driving force of the will to remain in the EU and makes the option of uniting with the Republic of Ireland that would put an end to the historical division in the Island of Ireland, more possible and predictable than ever before. However, it is not possible to consider this option independently of the establishment and multi-layered political dynamics in the UK. Taking the historical background of the Irish Question and the new conditions created by the post-Brexit process into account, the possibility for the unification of the two Ireland is discussed in this study, within the context of both the future of the UK and the dynamics affecting this possibility through the EU level.

Keywords

European Union, United Kingdom, Brexit, Irish Question, Good Friday Agreement



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