Politics

The government's paper on the Irish border shows they still don't have the answers

The paper, and Theresa May's article on it, were well-intentioned. But crucial details about what will happen post-Brexit are still missing

August 16, 2017
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Throughout the Brexit referendum campaign, the rallying cry of the Leave lobby was the demand that the UK “take back control of our borders.” You’d be forgiven for wondering if those who uttered the phrase ever realized—let alone admitted—that the UK does have a literal land border with the EU. But there is a physical border that the UK shares with another EU country, and it lies between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. More than a year since the referendum result, that border’s future lies uncertain and unstable, as do the lives and livelihoods that live alongside it.

Today, the UK has published a long-awaited, much-anticipated position paper on Northern Ireland and its future after Brexit. Theresa May outlined her vision for it in an op ed for the Northern Irish newspaper, The Irish News. The newspaper is primarily read by Northern Ireland’s nationalist/Catholic community, many of whom identify as Irish and are therefore particularly anxious about the future of the border after Brexit.

Most people in Northern Ireland oppose any physical border changes, due to fears it could destablise the peace process. The Republic of Ireland has reportedly proposed that this could be avoided by having a ‘sea border’ around the whole island—however, this has been disparaged by the Democratic Unionists as they fear this would cut them off from Great Britain and thereby undermine their British identity, just as nationalists fear a land border would undermine their Irish one.

Sadly, May’s op ed and the subsequent position paper show that the UK still has a long way to go before it has anything close to a proper proposal for the border. The government has stated that there would be no land border at all on the island (such as passport checks, or control check points), without giving a credible explanation as to how this would work.

The document states that it wants to retain current agreements which allow people to move between Northern Ireland and the Republic with “goods for personal use” without declaring them or paying any duties on them. It also states a preference for businesses in Northern Ireland to retain access to Ireland’s markets.

Both are sensible stances, but it is difficult to see how they could work in practice—especially if a hard Brexit is enacted, meaning the UK leaves the customs union and single market. A seamless border is a noble sentiment, but until precise details emerge, it amounts to an opinion rather than a policy.

Similarly, the document states that the UK does not wish for Irish citizens’ rights to enter the UK to be changed—nor for Ireland’s own immigration rules to change. However, as one government source immediately admitted to the Daily Telegraph, this would mean that people could move freely between the UK and the EU (via the Republic of Ireland), making a mockery of any concept of border controls. This is an unworkable position which few in the UK or the EU would be able to accept.

Further positions outlined cannot, in all honesty, be said to be UK positions. For instance, the position document states that Northern Irish people will be allowed to remain EU citizens after Brexit if they have Irish passports. Firstly, the right to an Irish passport is already enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement. Secondly, the EU stated back in a negotiating directive back in May directives that this meant Northern Irish people could retain EU citizens’ rights.

The document also says that the Government will put upholding the Good Friday Agreement “at the heart” of its Brexit negotiations, including making sure support for it is “written into” the withdrawal agreement. Yet to frame the Good Friday Agreement as something for which support must be pledged is misleading. The Good Friday Agreement was ratified by a referendum in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, before being lodged as a peace treaty at the United Nations with the UK and Republic of Ireland as co-signatories. The UK is legally bound to respect this and there is no way it could legally violate it. For the UK to announce that it will not breach the Good Friday Agreement during Brexit shows how limited its proposals for Northern Ireland really are.

It is revealing, if unsurprising, that the British government has revealed that it did not consult any of the Northern Irish political parties in relation to the document. This is likely due at least in part to the current collapse of power-sharing at Stormont. The lack of consultation may cause many in Northern Ireland—both politicians and members of the public—to feel that their lives and rights are being negotiated by a distant British government which has done little to understand the reality of life in Northern Ireland.

Today’s policy announcements from the UK on Northern Ireland stretches the concept of “plans” beyond any reasonable definition of the words. Rather today’s document is comprised of two things: optimistic wishes devoid of practical details, and repackaging of long-known inevitabilities now presented as British initiatives. Sadly, neither of these come anywhere close to being adequate for one of the most complex issues of Brexit talks.

Now read Darran Anderson on what Brexit could mean for Ireland's border communities