Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey, has stated that Tony Blair`s comments regarding the risk to the Belfast Agreement by Brexit lack credibility. Lord Empey was one of the key negotiators at the Belfast Agreement talks.

Lord Empey said:

“Tony Blair`s claims that UK and Irish membership of the EU was at the heart of the Belfast Agreement lack credibility. I was at the negotiations practically every day over the course of two years and the EU was only mentioned as a source of help for Northern Ireland to rebuild after 1998. This the EU did and we are grateful for that. Europe was barely mentioned during the negotiations and was certainly not central to the Agreement.

“Unfortunately, like others, Tony Blair is now jumping on the bandwagon and attempting to use the Northern Ireland peace process as another means to refight the EU referendum.

“The UK Government doesn`t want a hard border, the Irish Government say they don`t want a hard border and the EU claim they don`t want a hard border. So who`s going to put one up?  If some people could get off their soapboxes, then we could get down to some real negotiations instead of continually trying to raise the temperature. 

“I think it is a shame that a former British Prime Minister is now engaged in trying to re-write the past. If anything the greater threat to the Belfast Agreement comes from some of the despicable, dirty deals his government did with republicans on Royal Pardons and OTR letters of comfort and the contemptuous way in which his government treated victims of IRA terrorism as they attempted to get compensation from the Libyan government.”