TODAY, 150 days on from the result of the referendum on EU membership, the SDLP has published 150 questions for the Stormont Executive.
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood MLA said: “There has been plenty of talk about uncertainty since the Brexit referendum result – uncertainty as to when Article 50 will be triggered and uncertainty as to what kind of Brexit the British Government will pursue.
“150 days on from the referendum though our Executive has used this uncertainty as an excuse for paralysis.
“Today the SDLP is publishing 150 questions which we are asking of every government department at Stormont. These are questions which we continue to submit to the Northern Ireland Executive.
“They range from economic and business questions on our place in the single market, social questions on the effects on our community and voluntary sectors, education questions on the status and impact on our universities and questions around the security and future faced by our farming families.
“It is by no means an exhaustive list, however if Northern Ireland is to succeed in making the case for special status and special protections post-Brexit, these are many of the questions which they need to begin answering fast.
“It was particularly worrying to learn last week that it seems Martin McGuinness has failed to even raise the designation of special status with Arlene Foster.
“That failure of leadership is a failure to properly represent the clear majority in Northern Ireland who voted to remain as part of the European Union.”
“Instead of paralysis, the context of chaos at Whitehall means that we must put in the hard work to create our own certainty.
“Over the coming weeks and months the SDLP will be publishing our own proposals on our vision for special status for Northern Ireland. In particular, working through the all-island civic dialogue our submissions will be designed to defend the Irish national interest, North and South.
“In order to build that coherent case we need those in Government in the North to give detail as to the implications for our economy and society. Fully answering these 150 questions would be a good start,” added the Foyle MLA.
