By François Vincent, Local Democracy Reporter
Councillor Sarah Duffy (Sinn Féin, Armagh DEA), like her nationalist counterparts, felt strongly that as an Irish citizen, she should not be issued with a digital British ID card.
She stated: “I am not a British citizen. I never have been, and I never will be. The Good Friday Agreement protects my right to be an Irish citizen, and that right must be respected in full.
“No matter how the British Prime Minister tries to present this, the proposal for a British digital ID is completely at odds with the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.
“That agreement was about recognising and respecting who we are, the right to be Irish, British, or both, and to be accepted as such.
“For Irish citizens living here in the North, to be compelled by a British Government to carry a British digital ID card is not only absurd, it is deeply disrespectful.
“It undermines the rights and identity of Irish citizens who have chosen to live under the protection of an international peace agreement.
“This isn’t about resisting change or technology. It’s about ensuring that no government of any stripe can dilute or disregard the identity of people in this part of our island.
“While Sinn Féin agrees with the motion before us, our opposition runs deeper than that. The digital ID threatens the rights that were hard won in the Good Friday Agreement, rights that belong to every person on this island.
“Sinn Féin will always defend those rights, and we will always stand up for the right to identity, equality and respect that are central to our peace process.”
Cllr Clare McConville-Walker (SF, Portadown DEA) wholeheartedly agreed with her party colleague: “It’s good to see some agreement on this. The Good Friday Agreement guarantees the people of the North of Ireland the right to be accepted as Irish, British, or both.
“The digital ID scheme threatens to erode trust in governance, and it undermines rights under the Good Friday Agreement. This isn’t just a privacy issue. It’s also about the North’s unique post-Brexit reality, bound to both UK and EU markets under the Windsor Framework.
“A Westminster-imposed ID risks disrupting cross-border trade, complicating workers’ lives and deepening divisions, all while sidelining the Irish identity protected by the agreement.
“With recent polls showing growing support for a border poll, this top-down scheme exposes London’s disconnect from our needs, and ultimately strengthens the case for a united Ireland.
“We believe the British Prime Minister’s proposal for a mandatory digital ID card is ludicrous and ill-thought-out. So, let’s send a clear message from this chamber. Our communities here deserve solutions that unite, not divide.”
Articulating the SDLP’s position, Cllr Thomas O’Hanlon (Armagh DEA) expressed similar concerns: “Digital ID cards won’t stop the boats. They’ll not stop illegal or indeed legal immigration. They’ll just stop common sense.
“If this so-called Labour Government are really worried about those working in the black economy. Why don’t they invest in clamping down on the mistreatment and exploitation of low-paid workers, many who happen to be immigrants?
“We already have the National Insurance number. We all have passports, and we don’t need new techy-costly gimmicks. And to brand these as some sort of ‘Brit card’, that’s just tone-deaf and it’s grotesque. It fails to recognise the complexities of this place, of Northern Ireland and its people.
“It ignores the lived reality of dual identities, cross-border lives, and the delicate balance that we fought to preserve. It fails to recognise those of us who are Irish, who carry an Irish passport and no other.
“This isn’t immigration policy. It’s theatre. It isn’t about policy, it’s about politics. The digital ID card scheme is a desperate attempt to [outdo] Nigel Farage. It won’t fix an asylum system that is broken, and it certainly won’t make borders any safer. It’s propaganda dressed as policy.”
Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Jessica Johnston (Alliance, Lagan River DEA) also took the view that the Government had failed to take into account Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances on this issue: “I just want to put on record my party’s opposition to the UK Government’s proposals for a UK-wide digital ID card scheme that people need to prove their right to work.
“Right-to-work checks, visa controls, and employer liability rules already exist, and people have a right to go about their daily lives without infringement, and no one should be criminalised just because they don’t want to hand over their private data.
“There is the blatant issue of practicality in day-to-day living here in Northern Ireland. Many people travel North and South to work every day. Like we often see with UK legislation that is applied to Northern Ireland, none of the everyday realities appear to have been thought through.
“So, the gimmick from the Labour Party is clearly out of touch, and it would only further isolate those in society who are digitally excluded already. It would put further barriers in the way of those people accessing employment.
“At a time when public services are already struggling and public finance is so constrained, the UK Government would be much better investing the money proposed to be spent in this scheme, elsewhere. So, we support the motion.”
As councillors were unanimous in their opposition to the digital ID scheme – albeit for very different reasons – no vote was taken, and the motion was carried.
As the proposer of the notice of motion, Cllr Scott Armstrong DUP, Armagh DEA) concluded: “Thank you to the chamber for supporting me with this motion, even if we have our differing reasons as to why we are not supporting digital IDs.
“This motion wasn’t about the constitutional status of citizens within Northern Ireland. It wasn’t about what you identify as – Northern Irish, British, Irish, or whatever you want to identify yourself as.
“This is a bigger story than that. This is about Government overreach and Government control over what information they possess on you, and what they can do with that information.
“I want to ask the parties that have mentioned they are against this on the basis of a ‘Brit card’ or the Good Friday Agreement, or their status as a citizen, if this was implemented by the EU, or if it was implemented by the Irish government, how many of you would sign up to it?
“Because I can guarantee you today that you would sign up to it in the morning if your EU overlords told you that you just had to do it.”
ENDS
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