One thing the Brexit debate has made clear is that the border in Ireland, imposed by the British government almost 100 years ago, has to be the most artificial and farcical border in the world. Many borders have emerged over the centuries by agreement or because of the circumstances of geography. Others, like the one in Ireland, have been imposed by Colonial rulers. It has never brought about lasting peace on this island. That was not the intention.
I have visited many border areas in the world and crossed many borders in different parts of the world but the one I have grown up with here in Ireland is the most arbitrary and unjustifiable of any I have ever seen.
Brexit has already raised questions for people outside of Ireland about the futility of a political border imposed by the British on such a small island. It makes no economic sense to have two economies for 6 million citizens living on this island. After the Belfast Good Friday Agreement both governments were beginning to see the sense of close cooperation between north and south on a whole range of issues. After Brexit it will mean that one part of Ireland remains in the EU and the other part in the UK – against the wishes of a majority of citizens in the north. It is a most peculiar situation. It does make any sense unless the north remains in the Customs Union and in the Free Trade Area and the EU is quite prepared to accommodate that. Sadly, Dodds and Arlene and the DUP want none of it. They argue even against the wishes of the business and farming community that it would undermine the integrity of the UK by separating the north from the rest of the UK.
It is becoming clearer by the day that this arbitrary border imposed on Ireland 100 years ago under threat of immediate and terrible war has come back to haunt the British. Thanks to Brexit the world now realises that there is only one way forward and that is the reunification of Ireland by removing this artificial border for good.
The border issue will be resolved when a border poll is held in accordance with the terms of Belfast Agreement. That is the democratic and peaceful solution to this gross injustice. Since the British decided to pull out of Europe the issue of the border imposed by Britain in Ireland has become a major headache for this Tory government under Teresa May and will continue to be for any future British government in London. The days of colonial rule are coming to an end.
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