Show caption A queue for the Dome Of Discovery on London’s south bank during the 1951 Festival of Britain. Photograph: ANL/Rex/Shutterstock Brexit Timing of May’s ‘festival of Britain’ risks Irish anger Prime minister’s plan to lift mood after Brexit is set to clash with anniversary of Irish civil war Michael Savage policy editor Sat 13 Apr 2019 16.00 BST Share on Facebook

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It was meant to be a glimmer of positivity to unite a divided nation – a festival to celebrate the best of British, bring communities together and strengthen “our precious union”.

Yet Theresa May is being warned that her plan for a Festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland risks doing the opposite. The planned 2022 event, announced at last year’s Conservative conference, was criticised as a headline-grabbing distraction. But May now faces concerns that the timing clashes with the centenary of Irish partition and the civil war. Arts industry figures in Northern Ireland and some of those involved in the peace process are also understood to have concerns. These worries are revealed in a report by the thinktank British Future, which examined the potential for arts and heritage to bring the nation together. The study calls on the festival to be delayed by at least three years.

What is now the Irish republic became the Irish Free State in 1922, while Northern Ireland remained part of the UK. A civil war erupted among Irish nationalists over the remaining links with Britain and raged for a year. Sunder Katwala, the report’s author, said: “Holding a festival of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 2022, on the centenary of Ireland’s partition and civil war, would be the worst possible timing. It is only likely to heighten tensions between communities – and that’s before we know Brexit’s implications for the border. Right across the UK, a festival so closely associated with Brexit may only reinforce divides when it could be bridging them.”

Jonathan Powell, Tory Blair’s former chief of staff and one of the architects of the Good Friday agreement, also warned against anything that could inflame tensions, which have worsened given the prominent role of the Irish border in the Brexit debate.

“There is going to be a lot of rebuilding to do in Anglo-Irish relations, which had been put on a completely new footing over the last 20 years and were then trashed by the Brexiters over the last couple of years,” he said. “An example is their constant attacks on [Irish prime minister Leo] Varadkar for hostility when all he is doing is protecting the interests of the Irish people. I fear it will take years to put this right.”

The idea of a nationwide event was modelled on the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Festival of Britain a century later, held to boost the nation’s spirits after the second world war.

May was mocked on social media when she announced she was setting aside £120m to prepare for the event, with some suggesting the festival would only feature damp tents on village greens, an exhibition of the remaining avocados left in Britain and morris dancers. However, after holding focus groups, British Future found it could be more popular than critics think, should organisers get the tone and timing right. More than six in 10 thought the festival a good idea, with only one in 10 opposed, according to new ICM research.