Brexit: Northern Ireland ‘can rejoin EU if it votes for reunification’

Northern Ireland would have the ability to stay in the European Union after Brexit if it opts to join the Republic, a leaked ministerial letter has said.

Unlike Scotland, the country would not have to reapply for membership, if it voted for reunification, because the Republic of Ireland is already a member.

With Nicola Sturgeon pushing for second a Scottish referendum vote, the news could further damage Theresa May’s efforts to keep the Union together.

Ministers and government lawyers have concluded that the situation in Northern Ireland is similar to that of Germany before reunification.

The united Germany became an enlarged continuation of the Federal Republic and not a successor state in 1990.

It therefore retained all its memberships to the European Community (later the European Union) and Nato.

The leaked letter, from Brexit secretary David Davis to SDLP MP Mark Durkan, comes as civil servants prepare to take control of the country’s budget after power-sharing talks collapsed, according to The Times.

James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland secretary, said there is “no appetite for another election” after the deadline to form a government passed.

He said that Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party would have a “short window” to resolve their differences.

“We are rapidly approaching the point where Northern Ireland will not have an agreed budget,” he said. “This is not sustainable.”

Both parties blamed each other. Sinn Féin was “not in agreement-finding mode”, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster said.

Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill accused the DUP of not having “the right attitude”.

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU last June by 56 per cent to 44 per cent.

Theresa May will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday, March 29, formally beginning the process by which Britain leaves the EU.