Senator says US should prioritize EU trade deal

Posted By: December 12, 2020

Irish Congressional Briefing

Distributed to Congress by Irish National Caucus
 
“ Irish-Americans in Connecticut and throughout the United States welcome this strong support
—as reported in the attached article from the Irish News of Belfast— of Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) for the Good Friday Agreement, and for America’s continued essential support for the Irish Peace Process.
Senator Murphy, an impressive TV performer, has not to date a very high profile on  justice and peace in Ireland. So, it is very gratifying to see him now taking this strong stand.
Meanwhile, I am pleased to report that our internet  One Ireland Petition has been signed by over 19,000 people who support intentional human rights, equality, solidarity, unity, justice, and peace in
Ireland. 
The Petition declares:’’ Ireland, too, has the right to be One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This is a perfect response to England’s utterly undemocratic partition of Ireland, enacted by the London Parliament, with the assent of the King of England, on December 23,
1920.
The Petition is posted on Change.org and can be signed by clicking
—https://www.change.org/IrelandOneNation
The Petition is also on Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/sean.manus.1
And it is posted on our website—IrishNationalCaucus.org
Could any real American, or any true Irish person anywhere in the world, or, indeed,  any person who respects international human rights, refuse to sign this splendid Petiton!
—Fr. Sean Mc Manus


John Manley. Irish News. Belfast. Saturday, December 12, 2020
THE incoming US administration should prioritize a trade deal with the EU ahead of negotiating one with Britain, according a member of Washington’s influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy welcomed agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol earlier this week, saying he and his colleagues “are breathing a half-sigh of relief” as commitments to “keep intact the Good Friday Agreement” are upheld by the British government.

 Highlighting how support for the 1998 peace accord was cross-party in Washington, Mr. Murphy said he had worked with Republican senator Pat Toomey to stress that a “bipartisan US priority for any agreement between the UK and Europe is to keep intact the entirety of the Good Friday Agreement including a commitment to make sure there was no hard border”.

 The senator was speaking on Thursday at a Washington Ireland Program event with US president-elect Joe Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.

 Influential Irish-American politicians have consistently warned the British government that any adverse impacts on the Good Friday Agreement from Brexit will make a transatlantic trade deal unlikely.

Last month the US president-elect also stressed the importance of keeping the border open.

Mr. Murphy said he believed that the US’s priority should be a trade deal with the EU rather than the UK.

“I think that from my perspective one of the ways that we can continue to support the Good Friday Agreement is to make sure that we are keeping on track a trade agreement with Europe – difficult to achieve, but certainly not impossible – and certainly we will continue to build this bipartisan message of support that me and Senator Toomey sent,” he said.

 “It’s not to say a US-Britain trade agreement isn’t important but I do think that we want to send a signal about the value that we place on multilateral organizations, especially at a moment when the EU is under threat.”

 Mr. Varadkar thanked the US for its support for Ireland throughout the Brexit talks.

“I think the role of Congress on a bipartisan basis, but particularly led by the Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the comments of president-elect Joe Biden in recent weeks, did make a difference, did send a message to anyone in London who might think otherwise,” he said.
END.