The border between Northern Ireland and its neighbour to the south has emerged as the biggest challenge facing negotiators in the early phases of the Brexit talks. The issues range from the threat of a return to terrorism and a growth of people smuggling to the cost of producing Ireland’s favourite tipple, Guiness.
Brexit appears to have “exacerbated cross-community divisions” in Northern Ireland, according to the latest report by the House of Lords, published on July 19.
The Lords EU Committee has been examining the impact of Brexit on the UK’s devolved institutions. It said Northern Ireland will be “profoundly affected” because of its distinctive circumstances. The divisions which for generations dominated everyday life in the country – north and south – have once again been stirred up.
Simmering and deep-seated acrimony which had started to fade almost 20 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement has flared up along strictly sectarian lines. Statistical analysis shows about 65% of Unionists backed Brexit while almost 90% of nationalists voted to remain in the EU.
The House of Lords report said the disagreements over Brexit already appeared to have contributed to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive.
While Sinn Fein favours a “special status” for the province that would keep it in the EU, Unionists are fiercely opposed to the idea, seeing it as the beginning of the end to its links with the UK.
A New Frontline
One thing is certain. Post-Brexit the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic will become the only land border between Britain and the 27-nation EU. That obviously raises the possibility of passport checks, custom checks and trade tariffs.
The EU signalled in its negotiation guidelines that it would like to see a final deal include a version of the 1920s common travel agreement, which would mean passport-free travel between the two islands for Irish and British citizens.
But if there are no passport checks, the route through Ireland could become a back door for EU immigrants wishing to come to the UK. That has already become a growing concern for police. David Davis, the UK’s Brexit Secretary, will have to find a way to guard against that.
The 310-mile border meanders through largely rural areas, on occasions splitting farms in half. With more than 280 crossing points ranging from major roads to farm tracks the border would be impossible to police without a huge increase in resources.
Customs checks are required under EU law so to avoid imposing them there would need to be some sort of innovative formula. And that’s troubling both EU and UK negotiators.
Trade Barriers
Since the Good Friday agreement ended the Troubles the fact that both Ireland and the UK are members of the EU has helped to make the border almost invisible. The old British army checkpoints, security barriers and observation posts that were emblematic of the Troubles are now gone.
It is a far cry from the height of the conflict, when anyone crossing the border was subjected to a routine ritual of questions – name, date of birth, address and reason for crossing the border.
Trade and services between the two sides now flourishes. Between 23,000 and 30,000 people commute across the border, and that figure does not include “frontier workers” such as community nurses or farmers who routinely go back and forth across the border several times a day.
All-Ireland trade has flourished since peace, with production – particularly in food and drink – coming to involve processing on either side of the border.
Brexit will have a direct impact on Guinness, as the black stuff crosses the border twice before being shipped from Dublin to Britain and beyond. The drink is made at the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin then pumped into tankers, known as “silver bullets”, and driven 90 miles to East Belfast in the North, where it is canned and then sent back to Dublin port for onward distribution.
by Bob Graham
The post Brexit: Understanding the Irish Border Problem appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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