Sufficient progress on Irish Border

[user1471441738]

Donald Tusk said today although he welcomed the end if cake and eat it we'd still not made enough progress to move to a trade deal.

I'm wondering if we can ever get there. Guaranting citizens rights SHOULD be simple enough. The "divorce payment" is just about money.

However, what position would work on the border question?

For me, workable ideas are:

1: Cancel Brexit
2: United Ireland
3: EEA/single market membership
4: Single market for Northern Ireland but not Britain, hard border with Britain (border is the coast) and Northern Irish businesses wishing to trade must generally meet both EU and British standards.
5: Hard border with customs and passport checks between Northern Ireland and Eire.

Are there any others?

All 5 would surely massively anger lots of people

See I don't think the special status of NI and a hard border around the island of Ireland is an option at all. Not only will the DUP hate it but many in the south Will too. I do t particularly want to see a foreign police force at every airport and port in our country just because they voted for Brexit and are making a mess of it. I think any British customs officials or police etc at an Irish port would be a dangerous job as there are many republicans all over Ireland not just in the north. As the prev poster pointed out our gov have to agree to any changes and with many things here it's put to an imperial referendum (by sure if this would need a change in the constitution) and it could guarantee it wouldn't pass.

Also re Ireland possibly leaving the EU too 84% against it anyway....add in an "but lads the UK can't make it work in any meaningful way unless we leave too" = 98% no vote

God the typos...sorry....imperial referendum?? National referendum etc etc

TK - I don't understand. Why would there be foreign police in NI or the RoI if the hard border was moved to the Irish Sea? I'm assuming that the policing of ports would be on the British mainland and that the island of Ireland would carry on as it currently does but would have to police goods coming in from GB and that would be done by the respective authorities in Ireland and NI. (I do accept that this would mean a great deal of extra work for the port authorities in those countries but I can't see why non-national police forces would enforce this).

TK - I don't understand

I think any British customs officials or police etc at an Irish port would be a dangerous job as there are many republicans all over Ireland not just in the north

That's not the implication here itsalll now maybe it's media spin but the idea was certainly written about as if the customs and border checks would be here in Ireland to stop the "migrants" or illicit trade from ever getting to U.K. Soil so they/it would remain an EU issue

The British government floated this as a solution last year but, quite rightly, the Irish government has told them to jog on. Enda Kenny at the time was polite but doubtful about the idea but Leo Varadkar has been a lot more bullish since and has explicitly stated that the Irish will not be not designing a border solution to deal with Brexit.

Oh I know we have said no I was only replying to the various posters who have felt it is the only solution

sorry, cross wires. I can't see how it can be resolved to everyone's even quite modest satisfaction.

sorry, cross wires. I can't see how it can be resolved to everyone's even quite modest satisfaction

I mostly agree with this. The point I was making upthread was that the special status for NI/sea borders struck me as the only direction with any potential at all - I agree it's still fraught with problems.

The most concerning thing is if the Tories decide to just crash out without a deal? Where does that leave the border?