What is the solution to the Irish border?

[MegCleary]

Keen to hear, as I am struggling.

On the names topic above I had the letter from my local council today where they ask who can vote in your house and it has an interesting leaflet inside about who can - UK, Irish, Commonwealth, British overseas territories.

For Ireland it says "Republic of Ireland" where it lists the 28 EU countries. and separately says you can vote if you are "British, irishetc... citizen." Czech Republic gets it s republic in its name but not say France.

Just goes to show RoI still being used despite not being the legal name.

Though if you're in the UK I suppose you have to differentiate somehow. At least it didn't say 'Eire'. I don't know if there is any part of France that isn't part of the republic of France iyswim.

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

That’s the depressing conclusion I’ve reached after many threads on here. The amount of people who “never thought about it” or “it didn’t occur” to them, or “nobody told me” is unreal and breathtakingly arrogant.

Whenever I’ve said that I’ve been shouted down, told I must be Irish or Northern Irish for it to have occurred to me (I’m neither, I’m a Scot) and that they should just put a border in to close the UK borders. As if it’s anything like that simple .

Well every time someone posts who isn't Irish and still cares I feel heartened. So thank you.

Apileofballyhoo

It’s the ignorance in the face of so much information I find breathtakingly arrogant.

I’m alright Jack is how it comes across to me. In all seriousness though, unless someone is under 25 the Troubles cannot seriously have escaped their notice all their lives.

Well an awful lot of Brexit seems to be ignorance in the face of so much information.

It really does! Maybe I’m being unfair, I grew up spending a lot of time in Belfast during the 80s, my dad’s best friend was killed during the Troubles and I guess it’s always been something I’m aware of.

But even at that I’m staggered that remain didn’t pick up on the potential distress a hard border could cause and run with it!

@YeTalkShiteHen mentioned it all the time on here pre vote. Scaremongering project fear apparently

For anyone who feels that the younger generation don't really care about unionist/nationalist issues anymore...these are available to buy locally and they are not a joke.

The potential issue of the border seemed pretty obvious to me at the time of the referendum

So why was the vote to stay in NI so muted compared with Scotland and particularly with Gibraltar.

Anyway - solution = UK stays in customs union. Which also helps Gibraltar.

If the Republic would leave the EU too. They did once have a referendum and voted to leave

Nonsense, it was to do with the Lisbon Treaty.

"So why was the vote to stay in NI so muted compared with Scotland and particularly with Gibraltar. "
"muted"- obviously some element of the result that I missed. Arguably the Leave result in the UK was "muted". Does that mean we can disregard it?

A lot of the older generation in NI feel the EU is costing us money. As in the rest of the UK. They voted to leave because of it.

Shame a few politicians here and there can't be muted.

But even at that I’m staggered that remain didn’t pick up on the potential distress a hard border could cause and run with it!

I think they tried. I remember watching Question Time before the ref, Nigel Farage was on, another panel member (can't remember who) raised the Irish border issue, Nigel Farage turned and aggressively pointed at him and said "don't you dare raise that" worse, panel member did drop it and said no more. UKIP treated anyone who raised it as threatening violence if the ref didn't return a Remain vote, never mind that NF has since threatened actually violence many times if we don't leave the EU.

I've asked leave voters i know irl what they think should happen, every single one didn't know and didn't seem to care. I think the sad fact is most people in England don't give a shit about Ireland.

I'd forgotten that. It was seen as bad form to point out sectarian terrorism would likely return to Northern Ireland in the event of a leave vote. All those nasty facts.

UKIP treated anyone who raised it as threatening violence if the ref didn't return a Remain vote, never mind that NF has since threatened actually violence many times if we don't leave the EU

Having spoken to friend in NI the prospect of the paramilitaries taking up arms again (not that they ever really went away) is scarily close.

Virtually every pre vote post I did was about the feckin' border. It was on here loads. If you chose to ignore it and down play it then this, along with all the other shit is on you.
Don't blame Remain for not telling you.

I think people either didn’t know (so didn’t do their research properly because all the information was there) or arrogantly didn’t think it mattered.

Don't blame Remain for not telling you.

I'm not blaming Remain, I'm blaming Leave, they deliberately and successfully shut down any mention of this issue by describing talk as violent threats

If the Republic would leave the EU too.

Yeah, because it's our problem to clean up the UKs mistake. Don't think so, love.

Why are people calling it the Republic? It’s Ireland, no other categorisation needed!

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing. A timely reminder of the importance of the peace process and the dangers posed by Brexit. www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/omagh-the-smell-of-burning-flesh-that-s-something-i-have-to-live-with-1.3592471

It's complicated because there are two cultures.

also

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.*

I think many of the Unionist tradition understand either consciously or unconsciously that while they may be staunch loyalists, the people and institutions they are loyal to, do not even notice they exist, except when there is something in it for them.

That something used to be a deep water harbour, close to but away from the 'mainland'

and is perhaps now some votes to throw in the balance at Westminster. Even the votes were taken a bit for granted , was 't there a meeting that had to be interrupted to remind TM that the deal was not yet agreed

TM going on about valuing the union

That would have been during, or shortly after, the negotiations for the ten DUP votes

Possibly Northern Ireland can become an independent country along with Scotland and the South East of England and remain in the EU and Brexitland can leave to it's hearts content.