"Brexit" and Northern Ireland's Constitutional Status

Since the signing of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement (GFA) in 1998, Northern Ireland's constitutional and political development has been steady yet fragile. It is the supposition of this research that the UK Referendum on EU membership and the consequent process of withdrawal - "Brexit" - has and will continue to cut across the steady, fragile trajectory of the Northern Irish polity.

Northern Ireland has been recognised by all actors as a 'unique' case in the context of "Brexit" due in part to its geography as the only area of the UK to share a land border with another EU Member State, but also, crucially, the constitutional and governance structures of Northern Ireland, established by the peace 'settlement' and enshrined in the GFA, make it distinctive as a UK region and particularly vulnerable facing "Brexit". The process of the UK departure and the decisions made regarding the nature of a future UK-EU relationship raise fundamental questions for the future of Northern Ireland government structures and the principles underpinning its current political and constitutional status. In tracing the impact of "Brexit" this research aims to contribute to scholarly analysis of the post-conflict development of Northern Ireland as well as wider literatures on the changing UK constitution and the future of European (dis)integration.

The starting point for analysis of Northern Ireland's constitutional status will be the Northern Ireland Act of 1998 which translated the GFA into UK law and has been variously identified as the 'constitution' of Northern Ireland. From this, the key principles and aspects of Northern Ireland's constitutional character will be identified.

"Brexit" is an evolving, multi-faceted process. For the purpose of structuring this research, the analysis of its implications for Northern Ireland will initially focus on the effects of five developments involved the process of UK departure: (1) UK Referendum on EU Membership; (2) Triggering of Article 50; (3) UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement; (4) UK-EU Post-Withdrawal Arrangement and (5) UK Withdrawal (Great Repeal) Bill.

Using a combined methods approach of discourse and content analysis of relevant legal and political texts alongside interviews with key figures involved in the process of withdrawal the research will consider the extent to which events of "Brexit" have impacted on the fundamental character of Northern Ireland's constitutional status.