The Euroskepticism led to a cleavage between Great Britain and the European Union. The British referendum, on leaving the European Union, plunged her into an abyss of uncertainty–the populace, at large, voted in the assent of separation from the Union. However, the Irish digressed and the aberration confounded the future course.
The Emerald Isle shares a long history with Great Britain. Both went in the league when Henry VIII was coronated as the king of twin crowns–Ireland and England. This, followed by the Act of Union 1800, cemented the relations by amalgamating both entities in a single one. However, this endeavour was ephemeral. Soon after World War 1, the Irish war of Independence cleft the Isle into North and South. The six counties in the North acceded to the UK–now known as Northern Ireland. The South, on the other hand, became the Republic of Ireland.
The endeavour to draw a border between the two Irelands enmeshed the isle in a fratricidal affair known as “the troubles.” This engulfed the region in a nationalist-unionist conflict–sometimes enshrouded in sectarianism. In 1998, both sides decided to bury the hatchet by inking the Good Friday Agreement. This agreement enhanced cooperation and ended the violence in the Isle. It was decided to keep the border open sans check posts between the North and the South.
The North-South bonhomie was running athwart on a prolific road, just until the Brexit came fore. The Northern Ireland, along with Scotland and Gibraltar, voted to stay with the Union, but the UK en masse decided to leave.
A move in the 1960s to create a hard border had dilapidated the peace of Island
The Good Friday Agreement effaced all the barracks and barricades, which hindered the ebbs and flows of the Irish people commuting within. The Emerald Isles became part of the common travel area that helped the people move to and fro unhampered. However, the cumulus of uncertainty became palpable on the firmament after the UK decided to leave the Union. A hard border between the north and the south would resurrect the old enmity in the region. Therefore, the UK and the Union concurred on evading a hard border lest a de novo epoch of uncertainty begins.
In the Old Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May, the cumbersome Brexit negotiations led to a withdrawal agreement. An addendum in the withdrawal agreement–the protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland–fixed December 31, 2020, as the end of the transition period, the date till both sides would endeavour their best to concur on an agreement on Ireland. If the same was not done, a backstop – a nomenclature of the baseball – would come into being.
The backstop was an assurance in case of no agreement regarding Ireland. According to the backstop, the UK would remain in the Customs Union. The Euroskeptics gauged this move unacceptable. They believed that in case of no agreement following the transition period, Britain may entangle herself in the gordian knot, which gives leverage to the Union in further negotiations.
The Irish Unionists – especially the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – dissuaded the addendum in the withdrawal agreement. They propounded that like the transition period in the withdrawal agreement, the backstop must have a time limit otherwise it would be incongruous with the unionists. The bonhomie between the Tory and the DUP after the snap elections have made way for the conservatives to power.
The new British government, under the aegis of Boris Johnson, have concluded a new agreement with the European Union, which is, mutatis mutandis, the same as the erstwhile drafted deal except for the addendum on the Irish question. Facing opposition from all corners, the Union and the Kingdom decided to efface the backstop from the new negotiated draft on the Brexit.
The backstop would have plunged the UK into the Customs Union of the European Union, even after the deal was passed by the assembly. This act would have hampered the independent decision-making and trade deals of the UK with other countries of the world until a negotiated settlement on Ireland.
Instead of the backstop, the Union and the Kingdom devised a new plan to deal with the Irish problem. The Emerald Isle will remain a Common Travel Area, which will facilitate the unhampered movement of the people of Ireland. There will be no checkpoints or checking mechanism between the North and the Republic. A move in the 1960s to create a hard border had dilapidated the peace of Island. Therefore, all parties agreed to an unobtrusive border.
While addressing the movement of goods, the draft agreement states that there will be no obstruction on the movement of goods going into Northern Ireland from the UK. However, only those goods will be charged with the customs duties, which are suspected to move into the Republic of Ireland itself or forming part of another good.
These custom charges will be reimbursed by the government if they are not smuggled into the Union. To monitor this exercise, a Joint committee will be established to see the movement of goods entering from the UK or any other country into Northern Ireland lest the goods smuggled into the Republic. This might form a de facto border between the Kingdom and Northern Ireland as it is assumed that the customs duties might be collected in the Irish Sea.
After an initial period of four years, the Northern Ireland Assembly–also known as the Stormont–will have the right to extend or remove the setup for four more years with a similar option again after a fixed period.
The writer is a freelance columnist