Over 1,000 Irish citizens have signed a letter to Irish PM Leo Varadkar to "defend the rights of Irish citizens" in Northern Ireland. According to its initiators, this is necessary due to Brexit. It has been signed by a "cross section of northern nationalist civic society and citizens from throughout Ireland in many areas of life including business, the arts, sports, culture and communities". It states that “political institutions remain in suspension as political unionism continues to deny respect for our Irish identity and language, marriage equality, access to justice for legacy matters.”