Brexit

The UK leaving the EU means a number of things for Northern Ireland. Some believe the way Brexit would impact the fragile state of Northern Ireland was one of the many things not thought about by those in favour to leave the EU. Those it is agreed that a physical border should not be erected, Northern Ireland leaving the EU would mean it has different trading laws from The Republic of Ireland, meaning that goods would needs to be checked at the border and could no longer pass from North to South with few restrictions as it has been. Both sides want to prevent this happening through a deep and comprehensive trade deal. However, if both sides couldn’t agree on keeping the borders as open as they are now, that’s when the controversial ‘Backstop’ comes into play.

Originally the Backstop was suggested by the EU to just apply to N.I. to keep it in the EU’s single market and customs union, leaving the rest of the UK to strike up trading deals, but it was met with many objections from the DUP as it was said to single out N.I. and threaten the union. Mrs May agreed to a UK wide Backstop for the time being, but some didn’t like the idea of this and thought it would trap the UK in the EU’s customs union permanently, and stop them from making their own trading deals. In March 2019, the UK and the EU reached an agreement on a revised version of this Backstop, stating that the UK could start a “formal dispute” against the EU, if it tried to keep the UK tied into the backstop indefinitely. However Theresa May’s deal was shot down 3 times, leading to her resignation.

“Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is committed to “getting rid” of the backstop, describing it as “anti-democratic”. The UK government has floated the idea of a single zone on the island of Ireland for food standards. The EU has a strict rule that products from a non-member state must be checked at the point of entry. And many trade experts suggest the only way to prevent those checks at the Irish border would be for the two parts of the island to have the same standards. In effect, that would mean Northern Ireland would have to continue to follow EU standards.  And that would mean some food products coming from elsewhere in the UK would be subject to new checks and controls at Northern Ireland ports. The DUP has not ruled out a single food standards zone. But the Irish government is sceptical about the proposal.”

The future of Northern Ireland’s borders is uncertain, but The EU has committed to working on alternative arrangements but has said no systems which could solve the border problem are currently “operational”.

The UK’s decision to leave the EU has stirred up the old as time debate of the Union. The 2011 census showed that in Derry only 19.8 per cent identified themselves as British and in Newry it was only 16.9 per cent. The morning after the Brexit vote, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said that “the constitutional question has been reopened, and we now have people who were content in Northern Ireland thinking again about a united Ireland” and it couldn’t be more true. I don’t believe such a thing will happen, but it’s disconcerting that these debates are being fired up again, as they’re likely to cause controversy and it’s possible that it’s just more fuel to the fire of hatred against those with different views from our own. The article linked below shows how intense the segregation in Northern Ireland really is, and there’s some useful visuals of how it’s been developing over the years. With everything so up in the air, it’s more important than ever to educate ourselves and try to put a stop to this hate-driven society.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/two-tribes-a-divided-northern-ireland-1.3030921