MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ireland wants the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union, as its EU membership is beneficial to the Irish peace process, Irish Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan said.
"We want the UK in the EU because our union is stronger on account of Britain’s presence…From the outset, joint British-Irish EU membership has facilitated progress with the peace process … The EU has been a powerful – if understated – force for good for everyone and every community across Northern Ireland," Flanagan said Monday, as quoted by the Guardian newspaper.
Ireland was separated into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament in 1921.
In 1922, Southern Ireland became the Irish Free State, which in turn became the independent Republic of Ireland in 1948.
Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
