There was an interesting item in The Irish Examiner yesterday (HERE) written by Fergus Finlay on the Irish border question. It follows a report by the Legatum Institute, a right-wing think tank much in favour at Westminster suggesting airships or drones could be used to police the invisible border (HERE). Mr Finlay doesn't refer to the Legatum report but he would I'm sure be highly sceptical.
He says the UK has entirely misunderstood the border issue. "After Brexit, any border in Ireland is a border between Britain and the EU. That border affects how people and goods come into and out of the EU. If Britain leave the EU and the customs union, then Britain, and by extension Northern Ireland, are on the other side of the border. Full stop. But a border between Britain and the EU also, as a matter of law, becomes a border on the island of Ireland. The potential for damage of the re-emergence of a hard border on this island is huge".
His very controversial solution is for Britain to withdraw from the island of Ireland.
The basis for his conclusion is that people in the north voted to remain in the EU, the republic wants to remain in the EU and the principle of consent that made the peace process possible is being ignored by the Brexit process. He acknowledges that British withdrawal from Ireland would take years but he says it's the only solution to prevent a hard border and the return to the troubles of the past.
