Belfast youth feels European – and afraid of Brexit

Anyone following Maia Hamilton in the long corridors of the Belfast Royal Academy does not feel that it is a beacon of relief in Northern Ireland. The 16-year-old student wears a pleated skirt at the ankle and a wide revealing blazer, the standard uniform of girls. On the walls are strict portraits of the Reverend Presbyterian James Crombie, founder of the school in 1785. The building recalls the Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft Harry Potter . "That's what everyone who comes to visit says," Hamilton says.

Yet Belfast Royal Academy is progressive to North Irish concepts. The 1,400 teenagers here attend classes with students from both trade union families (who want to stay in the UK) and nationalists (who want a united Ireland). This makes these students extremely small. Only 8.6% of students in Northern Ireland attend mixed education – proof that the peace process has been consolidated rather than completed. Of the 1,150 schools in Northern Ireland, only 65, like the Belfast Royal Academy, are "integrated", as the Northern Irish call it.

Maia Hamilton prefers the canteen. A group of boys and girls talk about their origins and dreams. Hamilton is partly of Polish origin. A boy immediately said that he would like to study in Cambridge. Buttons on their backs show their performance and betray their talents. One is girl in the head. Another plays the first violin in the school orchestra. They talk about Brexit, their concerns. What is absolutely not mentioned: their faith. They refuse to color one of the two boxes

Smoke curtain

For decades, people have done nothing else here, says Paul Porter, their French teacher. "Everybody you met, you went to a scanner, what was their family name, could you deduce something from where they came from, what words did they use, I just came up with something? a Catholic family in Derry.If I wanted to avoid being immediately fired as such, I used Londonderry, the British name, as a smokescreen to hide my identity. "

We are from the generation of peace and grew up with this blue flag with twelve yellow stars [19659007] Paul McGrath, student at the Royal Academy of Belfast

Students listen. Paul McGrath, a big spontaneous boy, speaks. "It's completely different for us.We are the generation of peace.We grew up with this blue flag with twelve yellow stars on all the renovation projects, streets and street lights.We know what the EU meant for Northern Ireland and we feel European. "

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The superstructure held its own referendum on the Brexit. More than 70% (246 students) voted against Brexit. Only 26% were in favor. Young people were more European than the average Northern Irish (55% versus Brexit). Like young people on the other side of the Irish Sea, they fear the personal consequences. Can they still travel easily in the EU? Can they still participate in an Erasmus exchange? "I am furious that the older British with their choice of EU to resign from our future," said Edward Finnan (16).

Unlike the ambitious English, Scottish and Welsh youth, the Belfast group fears the consequences for the peace process. Identity has become more important. The chance that more children attend mixed schools in the near future, the group considers small. This is what the teenagers regret at the table. Brexit brings new divisions.

McGrath gives an example. "Take elections for the European Parliament," he says. Anyone born in Northern Ireland is entitled to an Irish and British passport. This had been provided for in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended The Troubles. Since both countries were members of the EU, there was no difference in terms of content. The British and Irish nationalities brought the same rights and obligations. This changes after Brexit. "People with an Irish passport retain the right to vote in the European Parliament elections, while Northern Irish people with a British pass lose that right," McGrath said. "You may think that this is not of extraordinary interest, but here it is different.The idea that two men who cross in the street, who are alike and take the same bus, do not have the same rights, is sensitive. "

Good Friday Agreement

McGrath addresses an important subject, underexposed and complicated. . "The foundation of the peace agreement is that all citizens of Northern Ireland have the same rights," said Paddy Kelly, director of Children & # 39; s Law Center, a non-governmental organization in Belfast dedicated to children. "Remember that the turmoil originated in the civil rights movement fifty years ago, Catholics demanded equal treatment." The Good Friday agreement established that everyone was equal before the law. "I really do not understand why you want to change that again," Kelly said.

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Last year, in May, the month passed in Brussels was agreed "Irish citizens in Northern Ireland could continue to enjoy their rights as citizens of the Union ". This would mean that North Irish citizens with an Irish passport retain the right to vote and vote for the European Parliament, to retain access to the European Court of Justice and to benefit from the protection of the Charter of the European Communities. fundamental rights of the European Union.

For the first time, I learn that 16- and 17-year-olds see themselves as Northern Irish and not British or Irish. . "It's a litmus test to determine the value of these rights," says Colin Harvey, a professor of human rights at Queen's University in Belfast. After her initial statement, May weakened her promise. And on the other side of the border, people are struggling with the case.

Take the elections to the European Parliament. The Dublin government is in no hurry to plan to have Irish nationals vote in Northern Ireland. Due to the departure of the 73 British Members of the European Parliament, some Member States are getting more MPs. Ireland goes from eleven to thirteen seats. Quite remarkably, the government of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has decided to add these additional deputies to the constituencies of Dublin and Southern Ireland (County of Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford).

"It is always very exciting to know if Dublin is ready to defend this company," said Harvey, who speaks regularly with Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney to lobby. Politically, Coveney and Varadkar, from the right-wing conservative party Fine Gael, do not enjoy the influence of voters from the north of the Irish island, where the leftist competitor Sinn Fein often succeeds well.

Harvey had found it logical that the two additional seats would be added to the Irish constituency on the border with Northern Ireland, so that it would be easier to vote for Irish people living in Ireland North.

The fact that Dublin is reluctant to make the Northern Irish choose their Irish MEPs in their own district includes Professor Harvey. The British will soon see this as an attempt by the Irish government to politically integrate Northern Ireland, which would also be a disruption of the delicate balance created by the Good Friday Agreement.

Paddy Kelly finds the situation sad. For more than twenty years, she led discussion groups with young Protestants and Catholics. "For the first time, I hear that 16- and 17-year-olds do not see themselves as British or Irish, but as Northern Irish, which is an important step," he said. she.

Small steps

This is special. You can travel to Northern Ireland for days without meeting someone who calls himself Northern Irish. Older people always see themselves as British or Irish. Only young people think that Northern Ireland is more than a political hint, they give it an identity. According to Kelly, these are the little steps that she cherishes, in the hope that they will eventually lead to bigger changes, such as more children going into integrated schools. further. Meaghan Hughes (19) struggles uncomfortably in her chair. "I spent a lot of time with what my parents thought, and I regret it now," she says. She does not say it, but it's clear: she supported Brexit for a while. She regrets that now, perhaps she has changed her mind, maybe she is sensitive to pressure from her peers on peers. She looks at the floor. McGrath immediately takes it for her. "Through Brexit, Northern Ireland has become a political battleground and we are in the spotlight in a strange way," he said. "It's uncomfortable for everyone."