What is the solution to the Irish border?

[MegCleary]

Keen to hear, as I am struggling.

I think you'll find that the Irish rugby team is a whole Ireland team - and has been forever for a long, long time

I still don't know what the backstop is

Sooner or later the EU will probably implode anyway and the Republic will no longer be part of it so an another alternative is the Republic just leave the EU now and save delaying matters.

Oh yeah sure, why shouldn't little Ireland leave to make the UK's whims possible...ffs. Ireland isn't stupid. We know how positive the EU has been for us, and we aren't some satellite country to just do what Brits want.

If Arlene and her pals want the same laws in NI as in the rest of the UK they should implement equal marriage and women's right to choose NOW.
They want the same legal status but not THOSE laws.
Hypocrites.

And if they wanted to be treated exactly the same as "mainland UK", then their cows should have been restricted to sheds and not allowed to be sold during the Foot and Mouth Crisis.

Funny how they can pick and choose when they want to be different from the rest of the UK?

Truly hypocrites

Agreed bellinsurge. You didn't mention the dog licences which are still required by law in NI.

What I find extraordinary is the way that Foster and her cronies are never challenged by interviewers. If they want to "take back control of our borders", where are the borders supposed to be?

Obviously not on the island of Ireland, as that would infringe the GFA, and not in the Irish Sea, because NI is part of the UK, so where is the border supposed to be and how do you propose to control it?

There seems to be an elegant solution that's been overlooked and which would meet the desires of everyone: a united Ireland under British rule, leaving the EU with the rest of Britain.

^ That's some good shit you must be on, pass it around.

Gonky - not so, some rabid Brexiteers have already made that suggestion. Not satisfied with wrecking their own country, they would like to wreck another. Mind you, Rees-Mogg would have to start running round to find yet another country to move his money too, if it were to happen.

the solution is not so hard - UK will leave the EU completely, put up no border, but leave it for EU/Rep of Ireland to do as they see fit

Shit goods freely imported is fine with you then. Might as well have no border control at Dover either.

the solution is not so hard - UK will leave the EU completely, put up no border

Keep up. That would be a breach of WTO rules.

Loving threetrees glib and silly suggestions. Wasn't a big part of the Leave campaign that we wanted to control our borders? The EU also wants to control its borders. Therefore there must be one between it and the UK.

Never mind that in the process of Brexiting we are in danger of ripping up an International Treaty.

Rules shmools, who needs roolz. Don't they know who we are?!

The solution is one the DUP won't accept- NI becomes a special economic zone run by the UK with an actual border in the Irish Sea.

the solution is not so hard - UK will leave the EU completely, put up no border, but leave it for EU/Rep of Ireland to do as they see fit

HahahahahahahaBonggggg. [laughed so much my head fell off]

Reasons for Brexit 101 : to regain control of our borders & and engage in trade under WTO rules, which requires, yup, you guessed it, a border around the territory you represent.

Sigh.

Maybe threetrees doesn't realise that the 20th Century happened and that Ireland became an Independent country shortly after WW1.

WTO rules do not require a country to put up a border

Under WTO rules, If you don't have a border for goods coming in from the EU via NI, you can't have tariffs for anyone. Which means cheap imports flood in and UK business and agriculture is devastated. But hey, blue passports.
Yes, Ireland will have to have some sort of border to protect the EU "border" too.

I knew that blush there you go then both Irelands can get along just fine - reunification it is! :D

Brexiters have themselves to blame for this mess. All through the leave campaign the NI issue was minimised and dismissed as almost trivial. Even still people here are struggling to get to grips with it believing the Irish are just being difficult and getting in the way of them are their blue passports.

For anyone that would like a good take on the issues, I can recommend @PatrickKielty on Twitter, in particular his pointers to Boris on this.

Ma be we should not allow terrorist groups to dictate policy? Eire is a different country to the UK and I think there should a hard border

Ma be we should not allow terrorist groups to dictate policy

No idea what that means. Or what reference to 'Eire' is.

The Republic of Ireland is called the Republic of Ireland if that helps.

^ or just Ireland, Republic of Ireland is technically the description. It certainly isn't Eire, that doesn't mean Ireland. If you're speaking Irish, it's Éire - if you aren't, best not to call it that.

As an aside I'm always so entertained by Brits who act as though it was only ever the IRA who committed crimes during the troubles...

tiredgirly Your ignorance is showing.

Almost half of the population in NI is nationalist and those people consider themselves citizens of Ireland. The Good Friday agreement allows them, and unionists, the right to belong to the country they identify with. This is the reason peace has been possible and both communities can coexist.

For Britain to impose a hard border after all the grief they've already caused in Ireland (invasion, plantation, allowing millions of Irish people starve to death, black and tans, partition, treatment of Catholics as second class citizens, etc) would be extremely reckless.