Let Europe's border be the Irish Sea!

In zig-zagging across the the information wrap whilst considering the LODE-zone Eire cargo of questions for the 2017 edit, this opinion piece in the Guardian stood out.

Without Irish unification, a hard Brexit is impossible - Simon Jenkins

Any additional border controls would further isolate the north’s struggling economy. The DUP must fight for a single market and open borders

Fri 4 Aug ‘17 09.57 BST 

Is Northern Ireland the poison pill of hard Brexit? The visit of the new Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, to Belfast today is remarkable. This is not just for the astonishing sight of a southern politician who believes passionately in gay rights visiting the still conservative north – given how long the south’s reactionary Catholicism has been butt of northern ridicule. The visit is also part of Varadkar’s campaign to exploit Brexit as a tool of unification. The north-south border is one of the three “starter” issues of British EU withdrawal, to be resolved before a post-Brexit deal can be discussed.

Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists hold two contradictory positions: that hard Brexit is good; and that the border with the south must remain “porous”, for goods and people. They want tighter control on immigration into the UK, but know perfectly well that the border with the south cannot be closed. It is another case of wanting Brexit – “but not for me”.

Various versions of squaring this circle have been mooted, none satisfactory. A possible deal might involve tagging lorries heading north or south, requiring awesome bureaucracy and enforcement. People movement is harder. The prospect of Northern Ireland as a Balkan underbelly of EU movement into Britain may be exaggerated, but it is real.

Northern Ireland could remain de facto within the EU visa area, but with a formal passport border set up between Belfast and Britain. Dublin would love that, and Belfast hate it. Or Dublin could somehow become part of an all-UK passport zone, vetting travellers from the EU suspected of wanting to travel north. That would look like Ireland going semi-detached from the EU. Or nothing could happen, and the old cross-border rackets could resume. Having no border with the south would mean that EU migrants could continue flocking to Britain, albeit by a circuitous route. The British negotiators would not accept this.

To Irish republicans, Brexit is a golden opportunity for pushing unification of an island that has, like Cyprus, been a tragic casualty of identity politics for almost a century. An open border post-Brexit and a gradual merging of the subsidy-dependent north with the free-booting south makes every kind of sense. If Britain wants to “go it alone”, let the island of Ireland have no part in it. Let Europe’s border be the Irish Sea. Let Ireland unite.

If that prospect is too much for northern unionists to stomach, they had better get working. Hard Brexit is not just bad for the UK; in their case it is unworkable. Additional border controls around Northern Ireland – wherever drawn – would further isolate the province’s struggling economy. The DUP should fight for a single market and an open border. For once, it is in a parliamentary position to make a British government listen to it. But time is short.

Unionists slam EU bid to move border in Ireland - Sinn Fein backs motion

Northern Ireland must not be bargaining chip in Brexit talks, warns DUP over EU border plan

By Suzanne Breen

September 30 2017

A European Parliament motion for Northern Ireland to remain in the single market and customs union has been condemned by unionists but welcomed by Sinn Fein. MEPs have concluded the move is the best way to ensure there is no border in Ireland.  The resolution, which is expected to be passed next week, would mean continued free movement on the island.

Brexit: Demand border moves to Irish Sea and NI stays in single market 

Customs checks would take place instead at ports on the Irish Sea for visitors travelling between Britain and Northern Ireland.

Rejecting the motion, DUP MEP Diane Dodds accused Brussels of using Northern Ireland as a "bargaining chip" in Brexit negotiations and said the principle of consent must be upheld. 

Mrs Dodds also insisted Prime Minister Theresa May had pledged there would be no "internal borders" in the UK. "Likewise, democratic unionists will not countenance any undermining of British sovereignty over Northern Ireland," she said. "This includes any notion of a sea border that places any barrier between us and the rest of the UK. "Our 10 MPs will use their influence to ensure that our place in the UK single market is not jeopardised by the machinations of Brussels." 

Mrs Dodds accused those behind the motion of trying to override the principle of consent. "The resolution is both hypocritical and inconsistent," she said. "Brussels should not be using Northern Ireland as bargaining chip in the negotiations." 

Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson welcomed the European Parliament's motion, which she said was a result of "intense lobbying" by her party. "This resolution calls on the European Parliament to stress that the unique and special circumstances of the North of Ireland must be recognised in the Brexit withdrawal agreement and that the Good Friday Agreement must be protected in all its parts and be consistent with EU law," she added. "It reinforces the right of people living in the North to Irish and therefore EU citizenship.  "It would also call on the British Government to come up with an 'effective and workable solution' to the issue of the border which would ensure the integrity of the internal market and customs union." 

Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said he was encouraged that the European Parliament was taking a keen interest in resolving the challenges Brexit poses for us. Mr Farry added: "We do not want to see a customs border emerge either down the Irish Sea or across the island of Ireland. Either of those outcomes would have major political ramifications and would increase the cost of doing business. "The surest way to avoid a hard Border is for the UK as a whole to agree a fresh customs union with the EU. In the event that the UK as a whole opts to leave the single market, the core of a special deal for Northern Ireland could be continued participation in the single market." 

But TUV leader Jim Allister criticised the EU motion. "The suggestion that Northern Ireland should remain in the single market and customs union while the rest of the UK leaves is totally unacceptable," he said. "Northern Ireland's leaving of the EU must be as complete as that of any other region of the UK. The direct consequence of this proposal would be to move the border to the Irish Sea - the ultimate Sinn Fein objective, of course. "It is a trap for the destruction of the constitutional and territorial integrity of the United Kingdom." Mr Allister said that there may be a case for special status, but for the Republic, not Northern Ireland. He also predicted that under Brexit the Republic would "feel the draught" if the EU "cuts off its nose to spite its face by insisting on tariffs".