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Northern Ireland and Brexit

(364 Posts)
MaizieD Sat 29-Sept-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

aggie Sun 10-Mar-19 14:49:10

Joelsnan yes

Nanah67 Sun 10-Mar-19 14:16:53

I live in the ROI and commute a lot to the north. Only started to travel north after the Good Friday agreement. Many people go back and forth daily for work and are in limbo at the moment. Leave or remain clarity is badly needed and it would help if the northern assembly was restored. There are lots of ins and outs to be resolved but custom posts will be a pure nightmare. I hope and pray that a resolution is found this week and the Dup do the right thing.

varian Sun 10-Mar-19 13:30:43

Young people in Northern Ireland have grown up with a unique ability to identity as British, Irish, or both, thanks to the peace agreement that ended decades of conflict.

But after Brexit, some people think the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could once more become a scene of violence, and there is uncertainty about what rights Irish and British passport holders will have.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/47503393/people-here-live-in-both-countries

varian Sun 10-Mar-19 13:15:55

Top Northern Ireland firms warn PM of a no-deal 'disaster'

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/top-northern-ireland-firms-warn-pm-of-a-nodeal-disaster-37896238.html

MaizieD Sun 10-Mar-19 11:20:19

A huge twitter thread (80+ tweets) on pre-referendum warnings about the probable adverse effect of a Leave vote on the Irish border. No-one could say we weren't warned.

twitter.com/BorderWarnings/status/1099013638189400064

Though, disgracefully, IMO, the then Northern Ireland Secretary campaigned for Leave. She really should have known better but putting incompetent ignoramuses into ministerial posts seems to be a tory speciality. The current NI Secretary is no better than her predecessor...

It even contains some input from one T May in the days when she was campaigning for Remain. However, she seems to have completely forgotten that she said the Irish border would be a problem in her ill judged haste to eradicate from Britain anything with the letters EU in it (particularly if 'EU' had the word 'immigrants' after it) from the UK.

andycameron69 Sun 10-Mar-19 08:56:13

I adore the kindness here, so fab belonging.

19 days and we are out.

good bye evil EU

democracy is awesome.

so happy

19 days to go...

great times for GB

do have a fabulous weekend

mcem Sat 09-Mar-19 23:56:24

Is there any need to inflict endlessly banal repetitions on readers? You say rude. I say succinct! Read the posts that elicited the responses. Do you believe they are remotely reasonable?

Joelsnan Sat 09-Mar-19 23:36:01

mcem aggie
Deary me is there any need for your rudeness to another poster?

mcem Sat 09-Mar-19 22:51:20

Inane. And I certainly don't mean varian's post!

andycameron69 Sat 09-Mar-19 22:47:10

gorgeous

varian Sat 09-Mar-19 20:32:12

The prime minister’s proposed Brexit compromise will hinge on what happens to the so-called backstop – the insurance policy that ensures there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland and could result in Northern Ireland remaining in the EU customs union and the single market.

And there is a growing sense that failure to find a compromise on the issue will hurt all communities in Northern Ireland, and that the stance taken by the DUP in urging a hard Brexit may be becoming increasingly unpopular. A poll for the Irish Times suggested more than half of Protestant voters think the party is doing a “bad job”.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/mar/09/belfast-brexit-enticements-on-offer-dup-will-back-her

aggie Sat 09-Mar-19 20:07:51

and rubbish

mcem Sat 09-Mar-19 19:37:37

Alexa isn't your post utterly snobbish, disrespectful and dismissive?

andycameron69 Sat 09-Mar-19 18:47:10

andy ici

Alexa Sat 09-Mar-19 15:06:14

My mother who was born and brought up in Ulster of Protestant stock and my Scottish father regarded her as an Irishwoman which she was of course , before partition. Both my parents were aware that the hostile passions and behaviour in Northern Ireland pertain mostly to the poorer sort of people of both factions. Not to the more prosperous among the population.

jura2 Sat 09-Mar-19 15:00:05

Francois, is that you?

andycameron69 Sat 09-Mar-19 14:54:21

a good fab WTO Brexit is what the majority of those who voted, for

OUT

not a deal that keeps us in.
there were 2 choices::

Leave or Remain

Leave won .I am elated

grin

varian Thu 07-Mar-19 14:06:13

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley facing calls to quit over 'insulting' Troubles deaths comments

www.politicshome.com/news/uk/home-affairs/justice-system/news/102338/northern-ireland-secretary-karen-bradley-facing

jura2 Sat 02-Mar-19 11:22:57

And now Dominic Raab has the gall to complain that the EU is being totally unfair in 'using the NI/Eire border' to make life difficult for us !?!

varian Sat 02-Mar-19 11:12:39

Award winning colimnist Patrick Coburn, warns in the Independent of the risk of brexit to peace in Ireland.

"The English are blindly driving Northern Ireland to conflict – the fear is that they are too stupid to care. A return to violence is not a worst-case scenario but an inevitability if a hard border returns, as it will if there is a full Brexit"

www.independent.co.uk/voices/northern-ireland-backstop-the-troubles-theresa-may-brexit-european-union-red-lines-a8803336.html

varian Mon 28-Jan-19 15:07:06

The backstop element of the Brexit plan is "not going to change", Ireland's deputy prime minister has said.

The proposal - aimed at preventing a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland - played a major part in Theresa May's deal being voted down by a historic margin last week.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47019977

But Simon Coveney told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that the EU would not ratify a deal without it.

varian Fri 11-Jan-19 12:31:08

Theresa May is still not listening to critics of her Brexit deal and is putting a plan to Parliament that is already "dead", Arlene Foster has said.

The DUP leader said proposals to give Stormont a say over new EU rules if the border backstop took effect after Brexit added nothing.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46807083

varian Fri 11-Jan-19 12:29:14

No-deal Brexit would be catastrophic for UK farmers, warns NFU

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/04/no-deal-brexit-would-be-catastrophic-uk-farmers-warns-nfu

EllanVannin Sat 05-Jan-19 22:10:23

I'm thinking more about your deliveries of " hog roasts and lamb !". When are you proposing such items will be there when you require them ?
Liverpool and Ireland use ferry services which carry all manner of goods by lorries which board these ferries and whose travels take them all around Europe exporting/importing goods including perishable items such as foodstuffs.

These foodstuffs could well be affected if there's a no-deal Brexit in which this country could be by-passed in favour of the continent. Nothing has been set in stone so far as trade agreements are concerned the ports are worried and anxious as traders could stop using the UK to get to Ireland and Northern Ireland, instead going straight to the continent.

Ports have never been given clarity by the government should there be a no-deal. This is bad news for Northern Ireland and its borders as it will create friction as well as delays and that has a knock-on effect for the deliveries to supermarkets if no trade declarations exist.

I don't think many Brexiteers realise the implications of leaving the EU.

The EU supplies funding for agriculture ( help towards fattening your hogs and lambs )
Also businesses in coastal areas such as Cornwall and West coast in general.
Wales received more funding from the EU than it paid back for the privilege, so is the UK going to continue with the funding when we leave ??
Once the EU funding stops in Wales the farming industry's had it and it can only spell damage and hardship to farmers. ! What will happen to the 68% exports that Wales sends to the EU ? Abandonment ? Catastrophe ?

crystaltipps Sat 05-Jan-19 21:08:00

Hope all your clothes will be made in Britain , and better check the cutlery. But just keep isolating yourselves. I expect you’ll be down at Weatherspoons for your tea. Enjoy?