Owen Patterson says no to border poll | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Owen Patterson says no to border poll

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Patterson, has said that he has no intention of holding a border poll in Northern Ireland to open up a debate about the constitutional issues of the six counties. Owen Paterson, who has the power to call a vote on Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, was speaking in the House of Commons during Northern Ireland Questions.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds responded to Mr Paterson’s comments. The North Belfast MP raised the findings of a recent survey which claimed that 80% of people here wanted to stay in the UK. Mr Dodds pressed the secretary of state on whether he had any plans to hold a border poll in Northern Ireland.

Owen Paterson told MPs that he had not received a single phone call or letter about this issue despite Sinn Fein raising the issue of a border poll earlier this year. A border poll was last held in Northern Ireland in March 1973 and was largely boycotted by nationalists.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=8029

Posted by on Mar 10 2012. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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