President Michael D Higgins quoted this marvellous remark by Michelangelo Buonarroti in Florence this week at a conference on solidarity in Europe. Brexit raises future relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic and between Ireland and Britain in dramatic fashion. Ireland’s role in Europe is part and parcel of that debate. But unless political leaders are willing to conduct this debate openly and democratically, they deserve to lose voter support. Brexit and the future of Europe are being discussed intensively in civic forums and citizens’ meetings, adding new dimensions to Irish democracy.

Source: The Irish Times May 12, 2018 03:56 UTC