In the recent referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union, both Northern Ireland and Scotland, - constituent nations within the United Kingdom - voted overwhelmingly to remain. The House of Lords European Union Committee report on the process of withdrawing from the EU (11th report of session 2015 - 16) makes clear that "the Scottish Parliament’s consent would be required" and that due to the European Communities Act being "entrenched in the devolution settlements of Wales and Northern Ireland" that there is "no reason to believe that the requirement for legislative consent for its repeal would not apply to all the devolved nations." - p.19 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201516/ldselect/ldeucom/138/138.pdf

What this means is that it can be argued that both Scotland and Northern Ireland might effectively have a veto over whether the United Kingdom can leave the European Union.

We the undersigned urge both Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness as the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland to respect the democratic will of the people in Northern Ireland who voted overwhelmingly to remain members of the European Union.

We also urge the Northern Ireland executive to make a clear and concise case for the United Kingdom to remain a member of the European Union. That this must be done in order to safeguard the rights of the people in Northern Ireland whether Irish, British or Northern Irish and to ensure the durability of the Good Friday Agreement which is the basis for our fragile peace process which is heavily reliant upon the European Union at its core.