Ireland will be on the minds of many Pennsylvania voters in November for the first time in years as the future of a Brexit deal, which could lead to border checkpoints between Ireland and Northern Ireland, is in flux.
According to Foreign Policy, more than 16% of Pennsylvania's population has Irish ancestry, a higher number than the national average. Irish Americans are generally more conservative that the Irish who live on the Emerald Isle, and President Donald Trump's campaign is trying to court these voters to help him secure another four years in office. Democrat Joe Biden, an Irish Catholic from Pennsylvania, is doing the same.
But whoever Irish Americans vote for, they will influence America's foreign policy when it comes to Ireland.
Trump and other conservatives supported Brexit, which saw the United Kingdom leave the European Union. What makes that interesting for Ireland is that Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. Once Brexit is complete, the possibility exists that there could be border checkpoints installed between the two countries — which would bring back haunting memories of The Troubles, during which more than 3,500 people were killed and thousands more were injured from the 1960s to 1998.
"Of the swing states, Pennsylvania would be the one that the Irish would have the most influence," Stella O’Leary, president of the Irish American Democrats PAC, told Foreign Policy.
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said, "Irish issues don't necessarily animate all Irish Americans. But for a certain segment of Irish American voters in my district, it is enormously important."
Boyle represents a district near Philadelphia.
Biden said last month that the Brexit deal must respect the Good Friday Agreement, which ended The Troubles, or the U.S. would not negotiate a new trade pact with the U.K.
"Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period," Biden said.
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