Readers Blog: More time needed for smooth Brexit
The solution to the Brexit/border issue is a much longer timeframe. Both British and Irish governments must ask for more time from the EU to sort out delicate border issues.
Britain’s timeframe for its departure may not be long enough for Northern Ireland.
There is a litany of issues. It is difficult to progress in one area without affecting another.
Any united Ireland agenda will be fatal to talks on the Brexit/border issue and should be avoided. If this issue gets played, there will be enormous trouble.
A united Ireland is not a tenable solution to Brexit/border issues. It would be madness and the blueprint is just not there for it.
It will be like a red rag to a bull to unionists, who will see the Irish Government’s attitude to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement as dismissive. It also appears to be unacceptable to unionists to create both a border on the Irish sea and an exception for Northern Ireland.
One thing seems to be clear: You cannot stay in the customs union and leave the European Union, so there is a very big problem. The haggis is in the fire, for sure. Northern Ireland has to go with the rest of the United Kingdom.
Existing arrangements will change, but a transitional timeframe can alleviate the situation, instead of cobbling something together and hoping for the best in little or no time. The EU powers that be want Britain out as fast as they can.
There is too much urgency to get Britain out, especially with Northern Ireland’s unique problems.
A transitional timeframe could be divided into a period for ideas, a period for implementation, and a period for dealing with teething problems and residual matters arising from the breakaway.
Unionists may agree to an extended transitional timeframe, but the ultimate result must be a single economy within the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
Britain cannot leave the EU without trade restrictions, which will follow on both sides of the border — otherwise, what is the point in leaving?
There must be some distinction.
You cannot have it both ways, so the old border controls may have to come back, despite the initial positions of the British and Irish governments. It will hardly be possible to have an open border without the EU crying foul and claiming trade violations. Some dissenting republicans are also indicating they may engage in civil disobedience, if a hard border comes back, but, unfortunately, that is a very real scenario.
The border controls will have to come back in some form — it is as simple as that.
It is time for everybody to get real and stop hoping for a miracle.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.
It leaves the EU and cannot be part of the Republic’s custom union with the rest of the EU.
