Brexit and the Northern Ireland Question: Towards a United Ireland?

The dramatic impact of Brexit and the appointment of a nationalist First Minister to the Executive in Northern Ireland have revived a complex political and constitutional debate related to a possible reunification of the island of Ireland. This article offers a wide-ranging perspective on the Northern Ireland question, retracing the historical-political framework of the peculiar constitutional status of Northern Ireland and reviewing the delicate process of negotiating the withdrawal agreement of the United Kingdom from the European Union that saw Belfast once again at the centre. Finally, the article concludes with some comparative remarks to interpret the debate on the future of Northern Ireland and the Irish island in the light of other experiences often referred to as possible examples of reunifications in the European legal order.