Worried that Britain’s new 55-year-old Prime Minister Boris Johnson may let the U.K. crash out of the European Union Oct. 31, Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned the U.K. about playing hardball. European Union officials refused to yield on the “backstop,” the so-called guarantee that the Northern Ireland’s border would not be hardened. Hardening the Northern Ireland border would cause economy havoc, leading to rebellion from North Ireland residents. “The Irish government are responding to facts on the ground as they emerged, and the fact is that Boris Johnson’s current approach is leading to no deal,” said Jonathan Evershed, political researcher at University of College Cook. EU officials led by European Council President Donald Tusk and European Parliament president Jean Claude Junker and European Council President Donald Tusk refused to negotiate in good faith.
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EU officials boxed former British Prime Minister Theresa May into a corner, refusing to give her more latitude on keeping the Northern Ireland border open if Brexit goes through. Vardakar wants Johnson to agree to a soft border when there’s noting in it for Ireland. Ireland has much to lose if Britain crashes out of the EU, leaving the border hardened like it was before the historic 1985 Schengen agreement, opening up borders with the Britain and European countries. “I think everything the Irish government has said is (a) true and (b) an attempt to confront Johnson’s government—which has willfully lost it grip on reality,” refusing to accept that Northern Ireland and the U.K. can accept an open border agreement. If Johnson allows Britain to crash out of the EU, Northern Ireland could be left holding the bag. Ireland wants the U.K. to stay say it’s OK for the British to stay in the EU.
Ireland is part of the EU, refusing to deal with a no Brexit deal. Since the Brexit vote took place June 23, 2016, the EU has refused to deal fairly with the U.K. Tusk and Juncker did everything possible to punish the U.K. for daring to leave the EU. “Standing up to a ‘bullying’ approach by Britain is part of the DNA of Irish politics, so no Taoiseach [Irish Prime Minister] can be seen to fold simply because a UK premier raise his voice,” said Duncan Morrow, politics professor at Ulster University. Varadkar admitted that if Johnson goes the no Brexit route it would make the prospect of unifying Ireland more likely. Irish Republican Army [IRA] has attempted attack British rule in Northern Ireland since WW I. “The Irish government appears to have concluded that the new government in London is not interested in finding a deal and is making it clear they will not be conceding either,” Morrow told the AFP.
EU officials could have easily made the concessions to the U.K. to assure a soft border in Northern Ireland but instead have chosen to make it impossible for Britain to leave the EU without paying a price. There’s no reason that the EU could not make the concessions to U.K to make Brexit more workable. Blaming U.K. recalcitrance was exactly why the EU kept up the pressure to force May out of office. May went to the EU numerous times begging for concessions on the backstop, allowing the Northern Irish border to remain open. Ireland, a dedicated member of the EU, wants to unify Ireland by making it impossible for Northern Ireland to do business with the EU. “This remains a game of chicken,” said Morrow, blaming the U.K. for refusing to deal with Northern Ireland border impasse. There’s no reason the EU can’t show Northern Ireland more flexibility on the border.
Ireland finds itself in the middle of the Brexit debacle, letting over 100 years of Irish unification get in the way of a deal that works for Britain the Republic. May couldn’t get the British Parliament to accept a Brexit deal that didn’t guarantee a soft Northern Ireland border. EU officials have been threatening to harden the border with Northern Ireland, creating economic havoc. Varadkar claims that Northern Ireland citizens would like to join Ireland to get back in the EU. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party [DUP] accused the EU of “megaphone diplomacy,” trying to destabilize the region. “Language is being used which is unhelpful or unnecessarily aggressive,” said MP Ian Paisley, rejecting Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.remarks against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. EU officials need to negotiate with Johnson before it’s too late.
Ending the Brexit stalemate, it’s high time for the EU to compromise with the U.K. on Northern Ireland. Whatever reason Juncker and Tusk played hardball with May, it’s time to compromise with Johnson, giving Britain the flexibility needed to stay in the EU, while satisfying British demands to deal with the northern Ireland birder. EU officials need to stop bullying the U.K. and fashion trade agreement that keeps the Irish border open without coercing more concessions from the U.K. DUP officials, holding 10 MPs in Parliament, want Parliament to accept Northern Ireland. DUP wants to end the Northern Ireland border. There’s no reason DUP should be seeking an end to the union that keeps the Northern Ireland border open. It’s in the U.K.’s interest to keep the border open, promoting as much cross-border trade as possible between the Republic and Belfast-based Northern Ireland.
