The existence of a paper written a full year before the EU Referendum, warning of dire consequences if the UK voted for Brexit, has been described as explosive by Ulster Unionist Leader Mike Nesbitt. The document is an internal assessment drawn up by a unit within the old Office of First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMdFM), now the Executive Office.
Mike, who chaired the legacy Committee of OFMdFM said:
"I have spoken to the First Minister and deputy First Minister. I have submitted written questions. I have made public calls for clarity about what contingency plans were drawn up in the event of a Brexit vote in June, but was given the clear impression no planning took place.
"Now it emerges that officials within their own Department drew up an initial analysis, which concluded Northern Ireland faced dire consequences in the event of Brexit, yet the First Ministers chose not to share it, either with their Executive colleagues, or the Committee of OFMdFM.
“This is another truly astonishing revelation about the levels of secrecy at the heart of the Executive. The fact that the DUP & Sinn Fein, who clearly have no plan for post-Brexit Northern Ireland, had been briefed on the potential for a disastrous outcome in May 2015 and did nothing is simply not good enough.
“This has the feel of an Executive asleep at the wheel. Do they think they are infallible? There are serious questions to be asked of the DUP and Sinn Fein, who twelve months before the referendum received this paper yet three months on from the result still seem to have no idea what they are going to do about it."