The Role Of The Border: The Relationship Between Northern Ireland And The EU

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Introduction: The Role of the Border

The role of the Irish Border includes; keeping the relationship between Northern Ireland and the EU constant to that between the rest of Britain and the EU, being a barrier against multifarious threats, and keeping a positive relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic. As most of Britain is on one island, physically creating a hard border is not an extremely difficult task. The issues arise as Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, which is remaining in the EU. This denotes that a hard border, between Northern Ireland and the Republic, would need to be set up to keep the relationship between the EU and Britain at a constant (CNN, 2016). As part of the European Union, the Border is also a reaction against an increased perception of risks and threats from international terrorism and contested immigration. This resulted in the EU altering itself into a ‘gated community in order to protect its citizens. Thus, borders gained a purpose as a barrier against multifarious threats (McCall, 2018, p. 295). Finally, The Irish Border is necessary as it is not only a boundary but a solution to a troubled history. After the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ the border was vital in keeping a positive relationship between the North and the Republic. Driven by Europeanisation and the Good-Friday Agreement the border was reconfigured as open and free-flowing for unhindered mobility, contact, communication, cooperation and trade (McCall, 2018, p. 302).

This essay will examine the causes of the Brexit Crisis and how they may impact all citizens in Ireland. This analyses will be conducted by; investigating the reasons which led to the Brexit crisis and how this, in turn, impacted the Irish border. Exploring how citizens of both Northern Ireland and The Republic will be affected economically and socially by Brexit and the implications it has on Ireland. Then finally evaluating possible solutions to the border crisis.

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The Reasons for the Brexit Crisis

In 1973 the EU was defined by its strong economic growth which distinguished it in the years subsequent to the Second World War. This is when the United Kingdom joined. This is in stark contrast to the image of the current EU as it has suffered a series of exceptionally damaging setbacks. These knocks have formed influential anti-establishment, anti-EU constituencies across the continent, including the UK (Riley & Ghilés, 2016, p. 1). Britain is also more inclined to leave as it has a different history compared to its European neighbours. Due to an extended practice of parliamentary democracy, a deep-seated impression that ultimately it can provide and manage for itself, and its position as an unconquered island nation, it has established itself from other European nations (Riley & Ghilés, 2016, p. 2). This ideology was fuelled for decades by anti-EU notions which were planted by the media and political class. This drip effect of forty years of negative media coverage became difficult to reverse in a four-month referendum campaign. Although other countries such as France and Italy have blamed the EU for all bad decisions, Britain implemented it at a far greater intensity and on a greater scale than any other constituency (Riley & Ghilés, 2016, p. 2).

Similarly, the 2003 decision which permitted full freedom of movement rights resulted in a surge of people seeking work in the UK from the CEE and Baltic states, this contributed to the Brexit crisis. Despite it being a decision to not exercise their Treaty rights to restrict free movement. Leave campaigners pinned the surge of workers on the EU, in the EU Referendum campaign (Riley & Ghilés, 2016, p. 3). These increasing numbers of immigration were a clear and brutal influence on the EU referendum. This is noticeable when examining the outcome in London and other major cities, where there had long been foreign communities, they were much more relaxed about immigration and voted heavily to stay in the Union (Riley & Ghilés, 2016, p. 3). These numbers contrast with the parts of the country which had only recently experienced a surge of new foreign workers, and other parts which feared immigration soon arriving in their neighbourhoods.

The Brexit crisis then resulted in the Irish Backstop and complications with the Northern Irish border. The border issues arose due to conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the past. As Ireland and Britain were both members of the European Union the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was made possible. This allowed the sharp dividing between the two regions to transform into a relationship between friendly neighbours and common members of the European Union (Hayward, 2018, p. 2). Currently, we are in a state where it is possible for this relationship to be changed drastically under the conditions Brexit enforces, as this common membership will cease to exist. A lack of border will cause Northern Ireland to develop a different relationship with the European Union than the rest of the United Kingdom. This is a result of Northern Ireland not being as isolated from the European Union as they share a land border, which the United Kingdom is unable to do. A UK, EU impasse is created as the Northern Irish politicians, and many members of the Prime Minister’s Conservative Party, refuse to accept the backstop. They believe that it will effectively create a new border between the island of Ireland and the island of England, Scotland and Wales (CNN, 2016).

The Potential Impact Upon Citizens in Northern Ireland and the Republic

As a result of the border being set up as a barrier, it may be ineffective and also harmful to the Irish society and economy. The EU Peace Programme boosted regional, city and local level cross-border cooperation. This eroded administrative, political, cultural and emotional obstacles to the creation of the Single Market. Evidently, a hard border would result in rising and reoccurring conflicts between the citizens of Northern Ireland and of the Republic (McCall, 2018, p. 293). A central focus of the European Union is territorial and sovereign nation-statehood, with an emphasis on the majority will of the country. The EU is a collaboration between nation-states working for mutual interest. It relies upon the premise that the interests of each state are best realized overall through cooperation. With Britain leaving the EU the current co-operation between Northern Ireland and The Republic may be decimated. There will no longer be a common ground between them. Thus, collaboration and coordination between the two states will be burdensome and problematic. This could lead to future strife between the two regions as they fail to be able to negotiate without any middleman (Hayward, 2018, p. 13).

Due to the UK leaving the Single Market and Customs Union, both the UK and the EU will need to effectively impose customs controls for all goods crossing the Irish border, to enforce rules of origin and ensure payment of VAT. In passing through an external EU border the Northern Irish exports currently planned for southern markets will be exposed to a substantial competitive disadvantage to EU-produced goods. This approximates at about 35% of their exports. Thus, this will have a significantly negative impact on the Northern Irish economy (Hayward, 2018, p. 8). In 2017, UK exports to Ireland were worth £34.0 billion, and imports from Ireland were worth £21.8 billion. This resulted in a trade surplus of £12.2 billion with Ireland. This surplus included both goods and services. Ireland accounted for 5.5% of UK exports and 3.4% of all UK imports, making Ireland the UK’s fifth largest export market and the ninth largest source of imports. This trade surplus has been recorded every year from 1999 to 2017 (Ward, 2019). Evidently, a limitation and barrier to this trade will result in the cost of living in Ireland to raise. Ireland imports almost 90 per cent of its total energy requirements, The majority of this coming through the UK. Each year it is a business worth roughly €4.6 billion. Difficulties in that area will most likely result in higher energy costs. They could see Irish consumers paying hundreds more each year to heat and light their homes. In addition to that, product prices would climb if the energy cost base for Irish manufacturers were to rise (Pope, 2018). Regardless of what area of work each individual is employed in, all citizens of Ireland will suffer an increase in spending costs due to Brexit. Furthermore, a no-deal Brexit could cost each Irish household an average of €1,400 (or €3,000 before tax) a year, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Research published by the ESRI earlier this year looked at the consumer side of Brexit and the probable impact of trade barriers on retail prices in the Republic. It used a database of more than 4,500 products which are routinely imported from Britain and found that the price of bread and cereals in the Republic could rise by up to 30 per cent in a hard Brexit scenario, while milk, cheese and egg prices could increase 46 per cent. A larger range of products are likely to increase by 20-30 per cent. The overall effect of these changes would increase the average cost of living for Irish households by 2 to 3.1 per cent. In terms of cash, this results in an annual cost of €892-€1,360 per household (Pope, 2018). Therefore, it is clear that the Brexit Crisis and the border issues negatively impact all citizens in Ireland, primarily due to an increased cost in living.

Possible Solutions to the Crisis

A few possible remedies to the Brexit crisis include bordering Britain, territorial differentiation, and creating a hard border around the entirety of the isles of Britain and Ireland. Currently, border is an imaginary border. It is disseminated by media, endorsed by the political establishment, and is reflected in public attitudes. Bordering Britain would prove to be problematic for the DUP in Northern Ireland and, conceivably, for the Irish peace process if views of Ulster abandonment took hold. However, it would be relatively simple to establish, and it would cause the least amount of disruption given that border portals—ports and airports—are already sites of identity checking and border security regimes (McCall, 2018, p. 302).

Territorial differentiation would address the particular needs of the sub-national territorial units. It has been commonly applied across Europe in various ways. It is the most direct way of meeting the many challenges that a complete UK withdrawal from the EU poses for Northern Ireland. Theoretically, arrangements to accommodate a particular combination of practical and policy challenges for a region are possible, although there are no ‘off the shelf’ solutions and any plans for territorial differentiation would have to be fully supported by both the UK and Irish governments along with the main parties in Northern Ireland itself. However, such an arrangement would have immediate implications for other dynamics of Northern Ireland’s position, including internal unionist/nationalist tensions (Hayward, 2018, p. 12). A hard border could be created around the isles of Britain and Ireland. Brexit raises the possibility of an intensification of UK–Ireland security cooperation to the ends of bordering the isles of Britain and Ireland and excluding unwanted outsiders, including non-Irish EU citizens. In terms of state security and intelligence, information sharing between the relevant Intelligence agencies between Britain and Ireland is already developed. However, such a course of action would raise many serious questions for the Irish Government, including Ireland’s continued membership in the EU. Due to the restriction of mobility of EU workers which would oppose the EU’s freedom of movement of labour principle contained in the Acquis Communautaire (McCall, 2018, p. 301).

Conclusion

This essay has examined the causes of the Brexit Crisis and how they may impact all citizens in Ireland. This analyses was conducted by; investigating the reasons which led to the Brexit crisis and how this, in turn, impacted the Irish border. Exploring how citizens of both Northern Ireland and The Republic will be affected economically and socially by Brexit and the implications it has on Ireland. Then finally evaluating possible solutions to the border crisis. Furthermore, it is evident that the Brexit Crisis and the Irish border disagreements will impact all citizens of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in a negative manner. This is primarily due to the cost of living in Ireland to increase drastically, and the mediator of the negotiations which led to a cooperating relationship across the border to now be non-existent. Solutions to the Brexit Crisis are difficult to manage and implant. Subsequently, on a wider scale, this may the end of the European Union as we know it.

Works Cited

  1. CNN, 2016. CNN World. [Online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/02/07/what-is-the-brexit-backstop-lon-orig.cnn/video/playlists/mobile-digital-features/ [Accessed 21 February 2019].
  2. Hayward, K., 2018. The Pivotal Position of the Irish Border in the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Space and Polity, 22(2), pp. 238 – 254.
  3. McCall, C., 2018. Brexit, Bordering and Bodies on the Island of Ireland. Ethnopolitics, 17(3), pp. 292 – 305.
  4. Pope, C., 2018. The Irish Times. [Online] Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/project-pricey-16-ways-a-hard-brexit-would-hit-irish-pockets-1.3642215 [Accessed 08 04 2019].
  5. Riley, A. & Ghilés, F., 2016. BREXIT: Causes and Consequences, Barcelona: Barcelona Centre for International Affairs.
  6. Ward, M., 2019. Statistics on UK Trade with Ireland, London: House of Commons Library.

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