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The basic problem here is that the UK government decided that it definitely did not want to to follow EU regulations. That implies that there are at least two d
by NotSwift 5y ago
The basic problem here is that the UK government decided that it definitely did not want to to follow EU regulations. That implies that there are at least two different regions of the world: those that follow UK regulations and those that follow EU regulations. So the places where these regions meet are a boundary. And both of these institutions have to decide how to handle trade across this boundary. You can either put this boundary between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland (ignoring some of the Good Friday accords) or put it between the NI and the rest of the UK.
My modest proposal would be to simply to join NI to the Irish nation.
- jfengel 5y agoThat may well be the eventual solution. It seems to make sense along a lot of different dimensions. But there is a long-standing resentment between Irish interests and English ones, where the English conquered Ireland and set themselves up as the ruling class. A fair number of people in Northern Ireland still identify with that English past, and are afraid they'll be an oppressed minority in a united Ireland. It may not be impossible to solve that, especially since the demographics have changed since the Good Friday Accords. But there is a long history of bad blood there, and both sides are mistrustful. Uniting Ireland seems like the natural solution, and I suspect that if they do it, it'll be obvious to all in retrospect of, say, 25 years. But at the moment it's scarier than Brexit, and for good reason.