CDP Encouraging England to Support Good Friday Agreement

The California Democratic Party has adopted a motion to pressure the British government to avoid destabilizing the Good Friday Agreement.

The motion expresses support for the United States led Good Friday Agreement and its course of peace and progress in Ireland, opposes any efforts to undermine the agreement’s founding, and insist that any trade negotiations between the U.S. and United Kingdom must leave the Good Friday Agreement in place to prevent the return of a hard border in Ireland.

John F. O'Riordan, Chair of the Irish American Caucus and a Member of the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party, lead the initiative to get the motion approved. O'Riordan has called for unity to pressure the British Government to work within the agreed Northern Ireland Protocol. "The Good Friday Agreement has come under renewed attack by the reckless actions of the British Government attempting to amend the Northern Ireland protocol that they themselves negotiated and signed”
While the people of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the European Union, Brexit created a dilemma in Ireland as the border between North and South Ireland became the only land border between the UK and the European Union. 
In response to this crisis, the Northern Ireland Protocol was negotiated and agreed between the European Union and the UK.  The Protocol protects the European Union single market while avoiding the return to a hard border on the island of Ireland.  To enable this to happen, European Union custom rules are applied for good entering Northern Ireland from Britain.

Threat to the Good Friday Agreement
Recently the British Prime Minister has introduced legislation that will override parts of the Protocol to remove checks on goods crossing from Britain to Northern Ireland.  If the UK acts unilaterally to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol, this will place the Good Friday Agreement at significant risk.
O’Riordan believes “The support of the California Democratic Party promoting the Good Friday Agreement will remind the British Government that the Irish diaspora in the United States remains influential and will mobilize support to maintain peace in Ireland.”


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The California Democratic Party is the largest statewide party in the United States with 10 million registered members

John F. O’Riordan is the chair of the Irish American Caucus, California Democratic Party.  From Doneraile in County Cork, he emigrated from Ireland in 1991 and lives in San Francisco with his wife Paola and daughters Sofia (11) and Eliana (10).

He sits on the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party

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