Is this the point at which reality bites for Brexit?

Its the Northern Ireland Question which has caused the latest huge controversy because of it just cannot be reconciled within the contradictions of what Brexit is supposed to be.

Basically, a 'hard-Brexit' (which is our Government's preferred option) means leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union. This means hard borders, check-points and possibly tariffs between Britain and the EU.

This border has to go somewhere and the Government of the Republic of Ireland (which is still in the EU) do not want it to exist between themselves and Northern Ireland because a lot of trade takes place between the two so they got the EU to pressurise Thereasa May into saying that Northern Ireland (which is part of the UK) will have a frictionless border with the south. This means a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Unfortunately for May and the Conservatives, their Government is propped up by a small hard-line Northern Ireland Party called the DUP, whose reason for existence is to fight to maintain the existing British status quo. They are basically the opposite of Sein Fein and there is no earthly way that they will accept any border between Northern Ireland and the UK. It would be like the UK saying that Northern Ireland is more Irish than British, so predictably enough they torpedoed a deal which would have these terms.

So Theresa May suffered two defeats on the same day to opposite sides. First, she surrendered to Ireland and the EU on the border issue. Then she surrendered to the DUP on her first surrender. FYI her recent election ran on the campaign slogan 'strong and stable'. Pressure is being put in the DUP and in IMO they are awful but then they are what they are and any strategy must account for that. May's strategy has accounted for nothing of anything.

An obvious answer to the problem would be to not have Brexit. That won't happen because people voted in the referendum so the s**t has to go down somehow. Another answer to the problem would be to have the whole of the UK stay in the Single Market and the Customs Union but the right of the Conservative Party cannot have that because they believe that this would be a sell-out.

On another note, Brexit is a huge threat to The Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Peace process.

If this all seems messy, complicated and ridiculous...well... it is. And this is just ONE issue with contradictions out of several.

Brexit was always an undeliverable fantasy. I have predicted that the Government could well fall in the coming months over this.

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Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

Well, maybe we need this to finally unify Ireland.
Massively unpopular with a spectacularly small number of folk. As is the way with all things Irish politics !
Just finally say to folk in Northern Ireland......If you think of yourselves as British, here's the dividing line North and South.
And redraw the border !
Then put a hard border across it since nobody could argue !

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 Good points as ever though I can't see that happening.

I am a soft Irish Republican supporter and I have no problems with what you suggest but then it's not about me. If you did that then you would have unionist terrorists at large acting against the Irish state. I truly believe that the Good Friday Agreement is the only way to go and that historic deal just cannot be reconciled with hard-Brexit.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 Ireland is a mess. Always has been since British involvement !
Personally i don't see the border as anything other than an E:U 'whingeing' point !
Both sides have co-existed for quite some time without either the UK or the E:U being overly concerned.
But now the E:U want to make an issue of it.
Just petty bureaucracy. Irony being, that's part of the Brexit argument ! Petty bureaucracy.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 It isn't a petty issue though. Ireland does a tremendous amount of trade with Northern Ireland and with the UK generally. Borders mean more bureaucracy and slowing and/or limiting that trade. If there are tariffs it will be even worse.

Brexit is potentially even worse for them than it is for us - and yes - that is freakin saying something.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 Well. Amongst the harsh realities to face is the fact that Ireland is broke ! So maybe there are tough questions for Ireland to ask itself. like....can they afford to still be a member of a club that happily watched them go bankrupt ?

firefall · 61-69, M

@Picklebobble2 that doesnt sound right? I thought it was the British govt wanting to put hard borders around their island paradise, thus dictating a hard border around Belfast (et al) ? and the Irish (not the EU) complaining about that?

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@firefall My understanding is that it's the E:U who are demanding a hard border because they're concerned about potential smuggling.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 I am against the Single Currency and I see it as a disaster for Ireland and Southern Europe. Long story though and one only partially related to EU membership.

Ireland is still very pro-EU even after everything that has happened. Greece largely is as well FFS. The EU has a lot of emotional appeal for smaller countries because its a badge of pride for them to be members of that club.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 The cynic in me wants to say....I wonder if that's because they get a greater 'share of the spoils' despite contributing very little.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 It depends on who gets the spoils. Rich Greeks and the upper middle class did well of the Euro and some of them still do. When the s**t hits the fan it's the poor who suffer. I have met many young Greek people living in London because they know staying would make them part of a lost generation.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Burnley123 Greece. Ireland. You have to wonder who else amongst them is treading a fine line financially.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Picklebobble2 We are treading a fine line too but we have our own currency so have more mechanisms to get out of it. We could need those mechanisms in the next couple of years.

firefall · 61-69, M

@Picklebobble2 Italy. Spain. Portugal. Ireland. At the least

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@firefall See i think if the UK can come up with a plan and make it work, that might well get others thinking along similar lines and opt to do the same.
A nations currency defines how well it's doing when compared with it's neighbours. If everybody has the same currency.....they can't all be experiencing the same successes/failures without some serious 'book fiddling'!