UP to 1,500 people are expected to attend the Waterfront Hall on Saturday for the highly anticipated ‘Beyond Brexit – the Future of Ireland’ conference.
Taking place from 11am to 2pm, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Fine Gael Education and Skills minister Joe McHugh, among others, will chair and contribute to discussions on the consequences of Brexit for Irish citizens in the north.
Prominent Belfast solicitor Niall Murphy, who is involved with the organisation of the event, described it as “the most important constitutional gathering in a generation”.
“There is grave concern around the discontinuance of the enjoyment of rights, the magnitude of which has not yet been fully clarified. We regard this as the most important constitutional gathering in a generation,” he said.
The conference comes as uncertainty continues to remain over the issue of the Irish border backstop along with the need to ensure EU rights are protected after Brexit.
Last November one thousand prominent nationalist sportspeople, artists, actors and leading business heads put their signatories to an open letter to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar outlining their concerns.
At the time the Taoiseach responded by insisting the interests of Irish citizens north of the border are a “priority” in the Brexit negotiations.
