Readers' Blog: Ahern Brexit comments both cavalier and unwise
We have been treated to the wisdom of three retired state pensioners in the form of taoisigh Bruton, Ahern, and Cowen on the matter of ‘Brexit’ and the border with Northern Ireland.
The cavalier comments of Mr Ahern on the latter are both unwise and actually dangerous. It is firstly worth noting that there IS a political border on this island — between the United Kingdom and Ireland/Europe. We in the south overwhelmingly recognised that fact in the Good Friday referendum.
Mr Ahern suggests “with any kind of a border .... we wouldn’t have to wait for violence ..... the people would tear it down”. It is an utterance that gives succour and comfort to men (and women) of violence, and tacit acquiescence in what they might get up to.
The UK has democratically decided to become a country independent of the European state, and whether the Northern Ireland local vote tilted against Brexit is of no more relevance than Roscommon voting against same-sex marriage in Ireland!
If Brussels and London cannot do a deal on trade,then any necessary recourse to customs checks on butter and margarine is not a reason that gives credibility to the notion of violence and disorder that Mr Ahern so lightly and disingenuously puts forth.
