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Northern Ireland and Brexit

(364 Posts)
MaizieD Sat 29-Sep-18 10:42:25

An Irishman tries yet again to explain the huge Brexit problem with NI. In response to yet another airy dismissal by Boris Johnson:

Start

Patrick Kielty @patrickielty
And please.... please don't tell me it's "our money" or that the UK government would have done it anyway because I can't be bothered to take you by the hand, lead you to a corner and explain simple things in words of one syllable

1. Northern Ireland is made up of a majority of Unionists (as in the Conservative and Unionist Party) and, believe it or not, a rather large minority of Nationalists (as in Irish Nationalists)

2. These Irish Nationalists don’t see themselves as British but rather inconveniently as Irish (who knew?)

3. For over 30 years we killed each other because of these differences which means Northern Ireland is nothing like Camden or Westminster.

4. The Good Friday Agreement ended that violence by the following devious magic - Unionists were guaranteed that Northern Ireland would be part of the UK until the majority voted otherwise.

The Irish was border was removed and the island linked so Nationalists could pretend they were already living in a United Ireland (yes, Tony Blair did slight of hand much better than you)

5. Some of these Nationalists then accepted being part of the UK as their day to day lives were essentially Irish.

6. This cunning plan was sold to us on the basis that we were all part of the EU therefore fixation on nationality was so last World War.

7. Implementing the Good Friday Agreement was torturous (think Brexit with actual bombs, not metaphorical suicide vests) but we finally made peace. Yet 20 years later NI remains a divided society.

8. Thanks to your glorious Brexit vision Northern Ireland will become more divided as some form of economic border checks will become part of daily lives.

9. If those checks take place between NI and Ireland, the Nationalists who were once happy being part of the UK will change their mind.

10. If they take place in the Irish Sea some Unionists will be livid. However they'll still support being part of the UK (the clue is in the Unionist bit)

11. Your Brexit lies have opened a Pandora’s box for Northern Ireland. It's one reason why the majority of people in NI voted to remain in the EU (almost as if they knew more about the fragile equilibrium of their politics than you)

12. Barely mentioned before Brexit, a border poll is now inevitable thanks to your monumental ignorance.

13. When that poll is eventually held the Nationalists who were once content being part of a Northern Ireland within the UK and EU will vote to leave the UK to feel as Irish and European as they did before Brexit.

14. The poll will be much closer thanks to your Brexit folly and could easily be lost by Unionists, breaking up the UK.

15. Any break up of the Union will be your fault (a tad inconvenient as a member of the Conservative and er, Unionist party)

16. The EU is not responsible for your blundering lack of foresight. Like most people in Northern Ireland they were happy with the status quo.

17. By the time the penny drops that you can’t preserve the Union you want without the one you don’t, it will be too late.

18. You will be remembered not as the Churchillian visionary you delude yourself to be but the ignoramus who triggered the break up of the UK.

19. If there’s any justice all this will come to pass when you're Prime Minister so you can finally swim in the constitutional sewage you've created (though we all know you’ll be in Nice with your trotters up)

20. Meantime, if you’re so concerned about keeping Northern Ireland totally aligned with the rest of the UK where’s your support for our same sex marriage and women’s right to choose? Your silence is deafening.

End

In a nutshell, so to speak grin

annep1 Mon 18-Mar-19 10:26:14

RosieLeah I too remember the border as not being a problem. But reinstating it is seen as dividing the country which would as you say cause trouble to flare. That's as far as my interest goes. I switch off when I hear the word Backstop.. Good luck TM!
I hasten to add most Catholics and Protestants are not narrowminded. It's actually a minority.

quizqueen Mon 18-Mar-19 10:27:41

If the Northern Irish and the Irish can't live peacefully side by side and threaten to return to fighting, then that's their shameful business.

The EU has borders with many non EU countries on its eastern side- Albania, Macedonia etc. It even has borders with African countries because it has accepted French colonies as being EU members. Don't tell me all these countries have the same regulatory standards as the EU because that would be poppycock. There is no talk of an Albanian back stop and so on. Yet the UK has always abided by the EU rules and regulations and any future 'divergences' are likely to be very minor.

Alexa Mon 18-Mar-19 10:40:26

Annepl wrote:

"I hasten to add most Catholics and Protestants are not narrowminded. It's actually a minority."

My Irish Aunt and mother would have agreed as would my Scottish father who worked in NI.

GabriellaG54 Mon 18-Mar-19 13:41:49

The palpable dissent, hate, animosity, call it what you will, in the island of Ireland between certain factions, will last for a very very long time,
notwithstanding the present border issue.
I remember seeing and hearing about the tarring and feathering of young women who fraternised with peace-keeping soldiers.
I heard the bullets being fired at the post at Piggery Ridge.
A good friend was a Colour Sgt in the 1st Bn Gren Guards and was punched and kicked when he arrived at Manchester Station on R&R.
After that he could never wear his uniform in public.
He and others were horribly glassed by some Irish workers in Mönchengladbach when out of uniform when they supposed he and his friends were from the base.
The hate before during and after the 70s has not dissipated, it simmers below the surface to erupt at any given opportunity.
There are those on all sides who will never forget or forgive and still seek retribution.
Ireland is a beautiful island, north and south but, to see the festering hatred manifesting itself all over again is something no-one wants to witness.
The factions responsible seem unwilling to make a lasting, meaningful peace if the recent bomb packages sent to the UK are any indication.
We here will always suffer the fallout although we've tried our best to calm the waters.
It will always be so. In my lifetime and in the lifetimes of my AC, GC, GGC and beyond.
A festering scab that will always be picked.
The border is yet another excuse to rebel.
When you can't solve an issue after almost 100 years, it's best to leave it and turn your attention to matters closer to 'home'.

andycameron69 Mon 18-Mar-19 17:20:54

jabber you are fab and make great posts I so identidy

EU odious vile unelected leaders of...

ghastly

A big rip off con

grin

jura2 Mon 18-Mar-19 19:16:39

'con' indeed.

andycameron69 Mon 18-Mar-19 22:03:00

i scream with laughter

out we go we go we go

varian Tue 19-Mar-19 11:18:28

Patrick Kielty was just 16 when his father was shot dead by loyalist paramilitarists who falsely claimed he was a member of the IRA. Incensed by Boris Johnson's claim that brexit would not cause a problem on the Irish border, wrote-

"Implementing the Good Friday Agreement was torturous (think Brexit with actual bombs, not metaphorical suicide vests) but we finally made peace. Yet 20 years later NI remains a divided society.

Thanks to your glorious Brexit vision Northern Ireland will become more divided as some form of economic border checks will become part of daily lives.

If those checks take place between NI and Ireland, the Nationalists who were once happy being part of the UK will change their mind.

If they take place in the Irish Sea some Unionists will be livid. However they'll still support being part of the UK (the clue is in the Unionist bit)

Your Brexit lies have opened a Pandora’s box for Northern Ireland. It's one reason why the majority of people in NI voted to remain in the EU (almost as if they knew more about the fragile equilibrium of their politics than you)

Barely mentioned before Brexit, a border poll is now inevitable thanks to your monumental ignorance.

When that poll is eventually held the Nationalists who were once content being part of a Northern Ireland within the UK and EU will vote to leave the UK to feel as Irish and European as they did before Brexit.

The poll will be much closer thanks to your Brexit folly and could easily be lost by Unionists, breaking up the UK.

Any break up of the Union will be your fault (a tad inconvenient as a member of the Conservative and er, Unionist party)

The EU is not responsible for your blundering lack of foresight. Like most people in Northern Ireland they were happy with the status quo.

By the time the penny drops that you can’t preserve the Union you want without the one you don’t, it will be too late.

You will be remembered not as the Churchillian visionary you delude yourself to be but the ignoramus who triggered the break up of the UK.

If there’s any justice all this will come to pass when you're Prime Minister so you can finally swim in the constitutional sewage you've created (though we all know you’ll be in Nice with your trotters up)

Meantime, if you’re so concerned about keeping Northern Ireland totally aligned with the rest of the UK where’s your support for our same sex marriage and women’s right to choose? Your silence is deafening."

www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/patrick-kielty-schools-boris-johnson-13328777

annep1 Tue 19-Mar-19 12:47:03

In reply to GG........

jura2 Tue 19-Mar-19 14:38:43

My sil was born on the NI/irish border in the late 60s. We were out together a few years back when a motorcycle overtook us and backfired- he threw himself on the ground. We were surprised and asked 'memories of the Troubles- saw many of my friends die'

we were truly shocked and upset that he was still scared and scarred, almost 50 years later. Wounds go very very deep, on both sides.

There is NO solution to the Irish/NI border - none whatsoever.

annep1 Tue 19-Mar-19 16:32:37

I still have nightmares.

varian Thu 06-Jun-19 10:28:22

Trump likens Irish border to wall between US and Mexico!

Donald Trump has started his visit to Ireland by comparing its post-Brexit border with Northern Ireland to the US border with Mexico, along which he wants to build a permanent wall.

Trump, sitting next to a visibly uncomfortable taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, waded into the Brexit debate minutes after Air Force One touched down at Shannon airport on Wednesday afternoon.

“I think it will all work out very well, and also for you with your wall, your border,” he said at a joint press conference. “I mean, we have a border situation in the United States, and you have one over here. But I hear it’s going to work out very well here.”

Varadkar interjected that Ireland wished to avoid a border or a wall, a keystone of Irish government policy.

“I think you do, I think you do,” Trump said. “The way it works now is good, you want to try and to keep it that way. I know that’s a big point of contention with respect to Brexit. I’m sure it’s going to work out very well. I know they’re focused very heavily on it.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/05/ireland-visit-donald-trump-arrives-leo-varadkar-discussions

varian Thu 06-Jun-19 10:51:03

"The president also had to combat the notion that his visit to Ireland was little more than a promotional opportunity for his golf club at Doonbeg.

One Irish journalist asked Trump directly whether his trip was primarily for commercial purposes.

“No, this trip is really about great relationships that we have with the U.K.,” he said. “I really wanted to do this stop in Ireland. It was really important to me, because of the relationship I have with the people, and with your prime minister.”

Ireland has not been part of the United Kingdom since 1922."

www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-ireland-trump-downplays-border-situation-before-heading-to-his-golf-course/2019/06/05/5b63806c-87b4-11e9-9d73-e2ba6bbf1b9b_story.html?utm_term=.510f4b66f248