If you only read one thread about Brexit and the Northern Ireland border, make it this one
In another sign that this Brexit business is going absolutely swimmingly, the Northern Ireland police chief said today that preparations for the post-Brexit Irish border were ‘in chaos’ with no-one in charge.
Which prompted this chap on Twitter to remember what he wrote about the issue two years ago.
2 years today since I wrote this about the Irish border. An issue which was, of course, resolved shortly afterwards. What was I worried about, eh?? https://t.co/JDDxyPxXOO
— The author, Séamas O'Reilly (@shockproofbeats) June 27, 2018
And it’s as on-the-money then as it was now and very definitely worth two minutes of your time.
1.
1. My thoughts as a Northern Irish person on how NO LEAVERS REALISED that Brexit will likely precipitate utter carnage in NI and, thusly, UK
— The author, Séamas O'Reilly (@shockproofbeats) June 27, 2016
2.
2. I’m angry that the NI point is never, ever discussed. Despite
the fact we are (a) the only people who have a land border w EU…— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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3. (b) simultaneously the only part of UK for which a border would prove
uniquely, and dramatically problematic…— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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4. (c) since we overwhelmingly voted for Remain because of the previous two reasons. So there’s that. But it gets worse. It gets much worse.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
5.
5. The fact is that either they put a militarised border between North
and South or all their talk of Fortress Britain is nonsense.— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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6. A fully open border EXISTS between the UK and the EU; one such example is
my dad’s back fence; a 15 second walk from ROI and thus the EU.— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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7. You’re French. You travel freely via EU to Dublin. Get bus to Lifford (3 hrs). Walk for 90 seconds to Strabane. Ta-da! You are now in UK
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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8. No border checks, no machine guns, no “papers please”. Just open. This is no longer acceptable to the mandate we have just been handed.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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9. A border is bad for practical reasons; people like my sister live in Donegal and work in Derry, and thousands more vice versa…
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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10. MUCH MORE IMPORTANT are the psychological effects. Lot of Good
Friday Agreement predicated on free movement between north and south.— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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11. This and cross-border bodies were just enough to comfort nationalists but not close enough to a united Ireland to antagonise unionists.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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12. Actually, an awful lot of the framework of the GFA was underpinned by existing EU laws anyway, so it may now be entirely undone.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
13.
13. But more importantly, making people undergo any form of border checkpoint between the two countries will not just be an arse ache..
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
14.
14… will massively inhibit the sense of security half of NI population takes from it and ROI being part of a wider European state. HUGE.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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15. I want to stress that this not a new concept for us. I'm 30, so I
remember checkpoints as a kid. I remember machine guns and dogs.— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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16. My dad making sure we weren’t nervous while he was being asked patronising questions by the armed men inspecting his driving license…
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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17. ..and checking under our car forexplosives. This used to be EVERY FUCKING DAY.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
18.
18. This won’t be some new, weird thing – this will be a direct, unbidden
return to something we worked very, very hard to get away from.— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
19.
19. Something that we were promised was over. That we finally thought we HAD gotten away from.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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20. A notion of peace that thousands of very stubborn and dangerous people finally struck a peace for. Put down arms and moved on from.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016
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21. A long process of peace, to which we must presume thousands of people now alive in NI and mainland UK, **literally owe their lives**.
— Seamas It Ever Was (@shockproofbeats) 27 June 2016