SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has told new British Prime Minister Theresa May “consent means consent.”
The Foyle MLA (pictured) was speaking on the future of Ireland within the European Union at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties in Co Donegal.
He said the future chosen by the English people was not the future chosen by the Irish people, North or South.
He added: “We have democratically chosen to remain as part of the European Union.
“No matter how often Theresa May repeats the mantra that Brexit means Brexit, we must strongly reply that consent means consent.
“We have not given our consent to change the constitutional make-up of the North, therefore our membership of Europe should not be altered.
“That is the principle enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement.
“It must be upheld and it must be respected.
“In the North we opt to be part of the European revival, not part of its disintegration.”
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