Thread by @Niall001

Thread: The NI border: Why contrasting understandings of Brexit induced problems remain a barrier to acceptance of a Withdrawal Agreement. 1/

In 2016, the incoming UK PM, Boris Johnson (BoJo from here on), explained how Brexit would not affect the NI border.

He said that Brexit would see it "absolutely unchanged" and seemed to suggest that it had been in its current form for a century 2/

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe…

Of course, this is not the case. Customs checks were carried out prior to both countries joining the CU and regulatory checks were required prior to the creation of the SM. 3/

During Operation Harvest, customs infrastructure - along with police stations, military barracks, courthouses & electricity pylons - were all considered targets for attack. 4/

Presumably, somebody has given Bojo a history lesson during the last 3 three years, but never one to let the basis of an argument get in the way of a desired conclusion, Bojo maintains that solutions are possible.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-…

5/

The "easy" solution proposed by Bojo is to have checks away from the border. If you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed that border infrastructure never needed to be "on" the border in order for it to be a target.

6/

For example, see the following example:

7/
irishtimes.com/news/politics/…

The Brexiter, ignorant of history and who thought the NI border could never be an issue, now imagines the issue of the border to be some sort of dispute over holy land - as though moving the check points on a map solves the problem.

8/

Bojo and co. are trying to "solve" the NI border problem by promising to find a means of making Kosher pork.

The EU - on the other hand - is suggesting that until such a thing exists, maybe we should take pig off the menu. 9 /

For more information on the problems with the technological and "turn a blind eye" solutions, try the below thread.

But today, I want to focus on why these attempts fail to address the underlying problems. 10/

https://twitter.com/Niall001/status/969206585099800577

Yes, any border infrastructure or associates increases security risks within NI and Ireland

No, moving them 5km up the road does not address the security risk

But a quieter, but potentially more powerful issue is that of cross-border cooperation 11/

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northe…

At the heart of the NI Troubles was the fact that Ireland had been divided. Nowhere was this more felt - for both nationalist and unionists - than in border communities.

Cross-border cooperation allowed for a degree of normalisation.

12/

Brexit threatens cross-border cooperation in 147 separate areas including healthcare, tourism, electricity supply, agri-food, waterways and education. 13/

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-…

But cross-border cooperation can continue post-Brexit, right?

To an extent, yes. But not to the extent that exists now. That is, it will become more difficult , the more the UK diverges from the status quo.

14/

For a pre-Brexit overview of the role of EU/SM/CU membership in the development of cross border cooperation and the creation of something resembling an all-Island economy, the following 2004 paper from Etain Tannam may be of interest:

qub.ac.uk/research-centr…

15/

For a pre-vote overview of problems we have come to know, see the following paper:

research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/2…

If the Brexiters, were paying attention, they would have understood the importance of CB cooperation a mile away. There were not. 17/

This is, in part, why the UK government found the WA negotiations so difficult. They did not believe that NI was important in general, significantly different from the rUK, that CBC had an important impact on everyday life or the effort that had gone into making it happen.

18/

Eventually, Teresa May agreed a protocol on Ireland that reflected the importance of cross-border cooperation, but she never managed to explain to her party why it was important. 19/

As noted here by Niall Ó Dochartaigh, the protocol is based around not just avoiding infrastructure but preserving the very idea of cross-border cooperation:

20/

blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2019/02…

Tory backbenchers have remained ignorant of NI and the extent of its cooperation with Ireland for a very long time. No two words can put a Tory backbencher to sleep faster than "Northern" and "Ireland".

21/

Unaware of the importance of cross-border cooperation in limiting division between Irl and NI and within NI, they interpret efforts to protect it, as a plot to annex NI or keep the UK in the EU.

How could a border in NI of all places cause so much bother? It must be a trap. 22/

The bother results from the fact that Ireland and NI have built a relationship that is acceptable/tolerable to both traditions on the island that minimises division on the basis of the GFA which in turn built cross border cooperation on mutual SM/CU membership. 23/

That CU/SM membership was the most practical and least controversial way to develop that cooperation. That CU/SM membership was what allowed both Ireland & the UK to meet their international obligations while having an open border.

The only trap here is history. 24/

Until the Tories learn to appreciate the importance of cross border cooperation in NI and Ireland, and the importance of Irish concerns to the EU, they will keep trying to "solve" the wrong problems.

25/25

*They

I had a go at meeting you challenge @Muinchille .

Not sure how successful it is but feel free to add your thoughts.