Referendum call irks North pols

SDLP and Sinn Fein politicians accused the Irish government of “acting unilaterally” and insist they should have been consulted.
Members of the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest party in Northern Ireland since the November 2003 elections after running on a platform of sweeping changes to the agreement, seized on the issue to state that the Irish government was indeed violating the Good Friday agreement and that it ought not to act surprised when the DUP called for renegotiation of the agreement.
But constitutional experts say that the government’s decision does not violate a rule that requires representatives from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK to meet in conference if the Good Friday agreement is to be amended.
Articles Two and Three of the Irish constitution were changed by referendum in 1998 to accommodate Unionist fears that the original articles outlined a territorial claim over the whole island of Ireland.
The revised articles are embedded in an annex or separate document to the text of the Agreement itself, and Article Two defines Irish citizenship as “the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland.”
Therein lies the government’s problem. Too many female asylum seekers are arriving in Ireland heavily pregnant — as many as 60 percent, the government has claimed — and upon giving birth must be allowed to stay in Ireland to care for their child, a newborn Irish citizen. This is an abuse of the birthright of Irish citizenship, say officials, and must be dealt with by amending the Irish constitution so that citizenship is conferred only on those born with at least one parent being legally resident in Ireland for at least three years.
But Northern politicians say that if the government wins the referendum, it still violates the agreement.
The DUP, Sinn Fein and the SDLP all accused the government of cherry picking the agreement, with the two nationalist parties calling for immediate meetings with the taoiseach.
SDLP senior party negotiator Sean Farren said that to amend the 1998 provision in the Constitution that grants citizenship on all children born on the island, was to interfere with the agreement.
The Good Friday agreement is an “all-Ireland agreement,” he said, calling for the referendum to be postponed.
Sinn F