Tag "Northern Ireland Protocol"
Celtic Tiger’s Hunt for Territory
Since partition in 1921, the Irish border has economically, politically, and culturally divided the island. Despite this, cross-border relationships have formed and evolved. Governments have a strong hand in promoting or denouncing said evolution, with development funds and projects historically being the most effective and visible means. However, as Brexit disrupts the status quo, private funds are gaining influence over the cross-border relationship. This article will analyze the implications of economic fluctuations on Northern Ireland’s political stability and the subsequent ramifications for British politics.
A House of Cards: Northern Ireland Brexit Quagmire
“The bonds that hold the United Kingdom together are fraying. The government needs to try to mend them”, proclaimed The Economist in its editorial of 17 April 2021. In their opinion, the “union is now weaker than at any point in living memory”. Political leaders in Britain have risked the safety of the union, they claim, with First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster particularly at fault for “stupidly” opposing the ‘soft’ Brexit advocated by Theresa May, which precipitated Boris Johnson’s ‘hard border’ Brexit. To top it all off, they brazenly claim that Johnson’s most important task as Prime Minister is to hold the union together, and that if he fails, “he will go down in history not as the man who freed the United Kingdom [from the ‘tyranny’ of the EU], but as the man who destroyed it”.
United Kingdom – Northern Ireland Protocol Complicates Trade Negotiations
The status of Northern Ireland (NI) has consistently been one of the most contentious aspects of Brexit. The tenuous political quagmire, combined with the fact that it hosts the only land border between the UK and the EU, has caused a plethora of economic and sociopolitical problems. In an attempt to prevent the creation of a hard land border in Ireland, the UK elected to let NI remain part of the EU single market. While this has prevented dividing Ireland, it has strained relations between NI and the rest of the UK.
