Ban on UK monarch marrying Catholic 'must be repealed'

British Prime Minister Tony Blair can boost the peace process in Northern Ireland by repealing a law which forbids the heir to the throne marrying a Catholic, it was claimed tonight.

In a draft paper on the review of the Good Friday Agreement, Green Party members in the North and the Republic of Ireland have argued that the 1701 Act of Settlement must be repealed because it is used to justify sectarianism towards Catholics.

The document, which has been drafted by a group which includes Trevor Sargent and the North's party co-leader John Barry, claimed the British and Irish governments need to lead by example on sectarianism.

The Greens said: “At the heart of the conflict are certain features of the political constitution of the sponsoring states.

“This was recognised in the Irish Government’s agreement to alter the Republic’s Constitution (on their territorial claim on Northern Ireland).

“There is a continuing need for the Republic of Ireland to self-consciously embrace a pluralist and inclusive political culture at all levels of society.

“However we believe that an important feature of the British political constitution has been overlooked in the process of transition to a post-conflict society in Northern Ireland, namely the institutionalised sectarianism enshrined in the Act of Settlement 1700 , which has the effect of excluding a Catholic or anyone who marries a Catholic from succession to the British throne.”

Labour MP Kevin McNamara has campaigned for the Act to be repealed and has been supported by Lord James Douglas-Hamilton of the Scottish Conservatives and the Catholic Cardinal of England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor.

In December 1999, members of the Scottish Parliament also backed a motion condemning the rule, arguing it had no place in a modern society.

The Greens stressed in their document that in calling for the repeal of the Act of Settlement, they are not endorsing the principle of a monarchy.

The Greens insisted they are republicans in the classical definition of the word.

Their document argued: “While the institution of the monarchy survives in the United Kingdom, we believe that it is incumbent on the British government to remove the institutionalised endorsement of sectarianism which the current Act represents.

“It is to this Act and the Protestant succession that fundamentalist elements in Northern Ireland appeal in order to draw down spurious claims of legitimacy for their racist crimes against Catholic neighbours in Northern Ireland.”

The Greens document also supported a nationalist SDLP proposal that Northern Ireland’s 12 government departments should be run by a team of commissioners in the absence of devolution.

The party said: “The institutions of the Agreement belong primarily to the peoples of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

“It cannot remain the gift of certain political parties to undermine democratic institutions underwritten by the sovereign will of the people of the island and the two governments.

“Moreover, as things stand, there is no political cost imposed on those who choose not to operate the democratic institutions.

“We are therefore supportive of proposals to bring the institutions out of cold storage via the temporary appointment of a 12-member commission to carry out the functions of the Northern Ireland Executive.

“The commission would be held accountable to the restored Assembly. Two of the appointees would fill the roles of First Minister and Deputy First Minister, pending the restoration of the Executive.

“These appointees would be empowered to transact North-South business and activate British-Irish aspects of the Agreement. Nominations to the Commission could be tabled by the two governments in consultation with the Civic Forum.

“Our priority is to end Direct Rule. We believe that this approach will deny the rewards currently accruing to those parties unprepared to negotiate constructively with a view to restoring the institutions.”