On the international front, we begin to see a spate of stories on the issues posed for Brexit by the norder between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Irish on both sides of that border like it “as is” which is to say “open.”
The cold truth is that Brexit happened because the English want to get control of immigration, something they didn’t have as an EU member. This means there absolutely has to be a hard border somewhere between Ireland and the U.K.
Logically, there are only two places that hard border can exist: (a) between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, or (b) between Northern Ireland and the island that is the rest of the U.K. If the choice is (b), it becomes hard to justify why Northern Ireland remains separate from the Republic of Ireland.
The Protestants of Northern Ireland find themselves in the awkward position of wanting to have it both ways. The Tory government of the U.K. only has a majority because of a coalition with Northern Ireland Protestants.
This latter group insists Theresa May find a way to “square the circle,” to do Brexit and leave them with an open border. It cannot be done.
