What is the solution to the Irish border?

[MegCleary]

Keen to hear, as I am struggling.

It would take decades of reasonable debate before a unification poll could even be properly carried out.

This is what I hate about Brexit. Decades is a good estimate and it would be best if the decision was an economic one for most people. It would be a terrible mistake to have a slim majority on a forever decision.

I think though that it’s good that the debate is just starting to open up in the mainstream media.

Me too.

The potential issue of the border seemed pretty obvious to me at the time of the referendum (the problem, not the answer!). I can understand it maybe wasn't top of someone's list who lives on the other side of the UK.

That said, I know plenty of people in NI who still want to leave the EU.

Also, lots of people very happy to remain in UK for the foreseeable. Culturally, economically etc etc. The medical costs discussed on this thread are food for thought alone.

This is somewhat not surprising:

Face. Palm.

cleebope I agree. It might only be a small corner of the twitterverse but I do think it is interesting to see this debate happening now.

I’m in England. I voted Remain.

At risk of getting hounded off the thread I didn’t think too hard about NI - I couldn’t envisage how leaving EU would work for NI and the border, so it was clearly a reason to vote Remain, but I also had more personal reasons for voting Remain.

I’ve asked a few Leavers what they think about NI and they all just shrug their shoulders and say basically ‘Ireland (island of) has got nothing to do with me’. A majority of them seem to have taken the attitude that, as they don’t consider NI part of ‘their’ U.K. (if that makes sense? The picture of U.K. they hold in their heads) so why would they consider it...it would be like considering the impact of Brexit on France.

A solution to the border issue is...somebody else’s problem, apparently.

A majority of them seem to have taken the attitude that, as they don’t consider NI part of ‘their’ U.K.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is just true of Leavers. It must be hard for those from a Unionist background.

The unionists that I know are in denial about this and have taken Teresa May at her word that the union remains as strong as ever and is her priority.They don’t want to believe that most people in England and Wales would love to let NI go if given the chance. But in my opinion the unionists were planted here hundreds of years ago by the crown and will be left to rot here eventually! I include many of my own ancestors, friends, colleagues and relatives amongst them. They need to feel that they would be fully valued in a united Ireland before they would ever contemplate staying. Like Arlene Foster recently said, many would emigrate back to Scotland or England if there was ever a united Ireland.

I was baffled at TM going on about valuing the union. Do we? News to me.

Brexit has destroyed the union.

A majority of them seem to have taken the attitude that, as they don’t consider NI part of ‘their’ U.K.

I think this is very true. "Why don't they leave them to it?" is a sentiment I have heard expressed by more than one person - mostly Remainers, I would say.

I don't think Theresa May thought much about the Union either until she realised that the DUP votes might be useful to her. She ought to trouble herself to remember that it's actually an increase in Scottish Tories which helped her retain the seats she did. If the SNP had retained their 54 seats then she would have been finished.

I do not agree Peregrina that it is mostly Remainers that would abandon NI. The Irish and the NI people have long been subjected to racist jokes by the sort of people who were most likely to vote Leave.

I voted to Remain, and, although I live in mainland Britain, unlike a lot of people I actually realised that the NI border could be an insoluble problem. This was not my only reason to vote Remain, I valued so much about our EU membership, but I could see before the referendum that brexit could only ever be bad news for the people of Ireland, both north and south of the border.

I don't think Peregrina meant that it was mostly Remainers who have that attitude as opposed to Leavers... If you go up a few posts you can see someone else said it was Leavers, and I said I don't think it's just Leavers, lots of people from Eng, Scot and Wales have the attitude that N Ireland isn't really UK like they are. Then Peregrina said she's heard it from people too, and the people she has heard it from are mostly Remainers. So it's from both. That's all.

It's very heartening when people do care about Northern Ireland who don't have any particular connection. I'm only just starting to get my head around the fact that many people in the UK don't feel any connection, as the poster said above it's not "their UK".

Yes what I meant is that I have heard it said by Remainers. I don't know all that many Leavers, or they keep quiet when talking to me.

For me, this was the issue which swung my vote to Remain. The GFA was a hard won agreement, and it seems criminal to endanger it.

I do't agree that most people in England don't think NI is their UK. We also wanted Scotland to stay - we want to be a united kingdom of the 4 parts - we are lesser without the parts. If the people of NI want to leave then that's fine but unless and until that happens I and many others (remainers like I am and brexiteers) so not want the UK broken up.

Xenia
'You' (not actually you but rhetorically you) want NI in the way a toddler sees a brick of 'his' lego going into someone else's tray at tidy-up time. He wants it back in his tray. That's all. Without responsibility, care or respect for the brick of lego.

Quite honestly I don't think many people in the south of England give two hoots about N Ireland. A significant number will ask you if you come from say Bradford, Leeds, Carlisle "where's that?" "Oh 'oop north' somewhere", with the fake northern accent thrown in. Given their lamentable lack of interest in English places, I don't think they quite get their heads around part of the UK being across the Irish Sea.

Lots of English people think we use euros in NI and our Sterling notes have never stupidly been accepted in shops etc ever since I remember going back to the early seventies. They don’t have a clue about their own country...the UK . It’s not so bad when we go to Scotland as they take our money usually. Not sure about Wales even though I have been there many times I just can’t remember using NI bank notes there.

I just don't know these people who don't know these things but that's probably because I'm fairly well educated. I don't know a single person who thinks euros are used in NI.

What I do sense is a lot of frustration by people N and S in Ireland about the rest of the UK and hope we can instead get more of an understanding of each other. I know people from across England as am from NE and live in London and we have relatives in the NE, Yorkshire etc. Loads of people I know in London know and work with people from all over the UK including NI and the |Republic and from the N of England never mind all the Scots in London. In fact I'd say London which voted Remain is one of the most accepting and mixed places in the UK.

I used to sell a few bits and pieces on eBay and I was asked regularly if I needed payment in Euros. And an alarming number of companies advertise free UK-wide delivery but refuse to deliver to me in N Ireland, insisting that it's not part of the UK. I've reported some of them to trading standards before, for false advertising.

Ha treacle, I used to get things delivered to friends in Fermanagh when places wouldn't deliver outside the UK! But I did run in to wouldn't deliver to NI either, or it would say free delivery but not to NI. Very annoying.

If the Republic would leave the EU too. They did once have a referendum and voted to leave. Somehow this was ignored and another referendum held, with the opposite result.

www.rte.ie/news/2018/0805/983290-sinn-fein-unity-vote/

Today's Sinn Féin news. I don't feel very impressed tbh.

What she said last week was more sensible, I don't know what's changed - is it the hurtling towards no deal?

www.rte.ie/news/politics/2018/0730/982062-mcdonald-brexit/

Not sure I'd like losing the flag - it was drummed into us in school that the green was for Catholics and the Orange was for Protestants and the white was for peace between them, all are part of Ireland and that's why we have that flag...

GameofPhones go off and read a few facts before you post.

Even though I'm not Irish but at least I'm relatively well informed I was going to pile in with reasons why GameofPhones post was a load of bollocks wrong - but Apileofballyhoo's response is much better

prettybird have to pounce on any suggestions of Irexit just in case Russia is listening