Taoiseach urged to protect citizens rights in NI as 1,000 sign joint letter

By David Hunter

Leading sport and business people are among around 1,000 Nationaists to have  signed a joint letter to the Taoiseach asking him to ensure their rights are protected.

The letter, published in today’s Irish News, has more signatures than similar posts to Leo Varadkar over the past 12 months.

The double page advert calls for the rights of northern nationalists to be protected as Brexit looms and against the backdrop of a suspended Stormont.

Signatories include actors Adrian Dunbar and Ciaran McMenamin, international footballer James McClean and film director Jim Sheridan.

It's also signed by Hillsborough campaigner Phil Scraton and singer songwriter Tommy Sands.

The signatories were approached because they represent a breadth of nationalist opinion, with more than 30 school principals, dozens of lawyers and 20-plus doctors and consultants.

The letter raises concerns about Brexit's impact on cross-border healthcare and education, as well a lack of representation for people here in the European Parliament.

Belfast lawyer Niall Murphy was involved in compiling the letter and told The Irish News that almost every section of nationalist civic life was represented.

"That this letter is signed by over a thousand leaders from the nationalist community is a testament to an evolving earthquake in terms of an awakening of nationalist confidence," he said.

"The 1,000 names are symbolic – the letter is not a petition, but a representative sample of the views of hundreds of thousands of people across the north and indeed across the entire island.”