I dont understand why brexxit should change anything for NI.
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Northern Ireland is part of the UK, it is included in brexit and as such is no longer part of the EU. The rest of the Island of Ireland called Ireland is part of the EU and not the UK.
Northern Ireland and Ireland have a treaty that says the border between them shall never be closed.
Northern Ireland is part of the UK, therefore there cant be a border between the UK and Northern Ireland
Half the reason for brexit was lack of imigration control in the EU, the UK wants a border with the EU.
These 3 things are mutualy exclusive. you can only ever pick 2 of them, which will logicaly preclude the 3rd
The unionists have been handed the single greatest trade opportunity in modern European history, an ability to be a free trading post between the EU and the UK.
However due to their stubborn nature and the fact that they lost their last local election to Irish nationalists they have refused to allow their local government to function for almost 2 years.
There are five options and none of them are good.
1. The UK can continue following EU regulations and standards. Since one of the goals of Brexit was *not* doing that, the UK won’t go for it. (This option isn’t actually *bad*. It’s just not going to happen.)
2. Enforce a border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Besides missing the point of being a United Kingdom, this would upset the unionist community in Northern Ireland, and at least some of them would start blowing shit up again.
3. Enforce the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Given the number cross-border roads, and how many people and communities use them (and off-road crossings), this would be massively disruptive. It would also upset the nationalists, and at least some of them would stop blowing shit up again.
4. Enforce a border between Ireland and the rest of the EU. This would isolate Ireland, and neither side wants to do that.
5. Let goods freely move between the EU and UK, despite not meeting standards (in both directions). The EU obviously doesn’t want substandard products to be sold. The UK probably wouldn’t care if EU-standard products were imported, but under WTO rules, they can’t give the EU special treatment without being a member.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, which means they left the European Union. However Ireland is an independent republic which is still in the European Union. The boarders between Ireland and Northern Ireland does not follow any natural barriers like rivers or mountain ranges. And it is generally quite complex. So there are lots of places where the boarder cuts between neighborhoods and even driveways. It is therefore very hard to enforce the boarder as you need an extreme amount of boarder guards and interfere with lots of peoples every day lives. That makes it practically impossible to enforce a boarder between the UK and EU.
In addition to this there was a peace treaty of sorts signed between the UK and Ireland in 1997 ending the troubles. Part of this peace treaty was that the boarder should be opened. At the time this was not a big deal as this was the same time that the EU enforced the open boarders policy. But it does mean that putting up boarder checkpoints would violate this treaty and possibly start the troubles again.
The temporary solution they have come up with is to have the boarder checkpoints on the ferries between Northern Ireland and mainland UK. This means that Northern Ireland while technically not in the EU is within the enforced boarders of the EU. This have created some complex rules for tariffs and such.
The problem with this solution and why everyone agree that it is only temporary is that it can cause Northern Ireland to become isolated from the UK. Especially as the customs and boarder policies in the UK starts diverging more and more from the EU policies. Northern Ireland will follow the EU economy more closely then the UK economy. And it might be easier for the North Irish to travel to mainland Europe then mainland UK. This might trigger a movement for North Irish independence from the UK.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK which has a land border with an EU country (Ireland), farmers often have parts of their farm on both sides of the border, so having a trade barrier between Northern Ireland and Ireland is almost impossible, so instead the EU imposed a border between Northern Ireland and he rest of the UK which has upset the unionist politicians in Northern Ireland a lot.
The premise of the Good Friday Agreement was that Northern Ireland could be simultaneously a part of the UK and open to free movement of people and goods from the Republic of Ireland. This was possible because both were members of the EU and had the same regulations for goods. This satisfied both Loyalists (those in Northern Ireland who have political and cultural ties to the United Kingdom who are predominantly Protestant) and Republicans (those who want a union between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, mostly Catholics). Neither side had to choose one or the other because they were part of a larger political structure that allowed free movement.
Brexit broke this agreement by making the border meaningful again. If the UK allows free movement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, it is taking the Republican position by treating Northern Ireland differently than the rest of the UK, especially since that puts customs barriers in the North Sea between Britain and Ireland. But if they allow free movement between Northern Ireland and Britain that requires checks on the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic which supports the Loyalist position and provides a tangible target in the form of customs checkpoints which were often flashpoints during the Troubles.
Most Irish on both sides, especially younger people, do not want a return of the border conflict, although there are still plenty of militants on both sides still active and under the Good Friday Agreement they stored weapons instead of destroying them, making a real possibility of the return to terrorist attacks from both sides.
The current negotiations between the EU, UK, and Republic of Ireland are trying to find a solution that has minimal friction across the border so that they don’t return to conflict and they can respect both sides in Northern Ireland.
North Ireland is part of the UK. The UK was part of the European Union but has now left. This has been a disastrous move overall. Virtually none of the promised benefits of leaving have come to fruition and there have been some terrible consequences. The loss of farm subsidies have devastated their farming industry for example. So the nations like Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have reluctantly remained part of the UK, are not happy about being dragged into what has turned out to be a foolish endeavor on the part of Britain.
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