Sir, – I have listened to politicians of all parties express a preference that there should be no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. I have also spoken with a number of international trade lawyers on the point.
Assuming that the UK will not accept free movement of persons in the Brexit negotiations, and therefore has to compromise to an extent on access to the single market, the trade lawyers’ view is that there will have to be a hard border simply because there is no technical alternative.
If an Italian or Polish person can travel freely to Ireland, but not to the UK, how can there not be controls at the border? If goods have to be accounted for as they move between the EU and the UK, how can there not be some process required at the border?
I would welcome political clarity on the plans to address this issue. Or perhaps someone has a technical solution? – Yours, etc,
DECLAN BLACK,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4
Sir, – Alan Shatter's articulate and well-informed article on Brexit and Ireland is excellent (October 5th). It is ill-served, however, by an online headline directly contradicting the whole thrust of the article. "Difficulties of Brexit for Ireland can't be underestimated" blares the headline, while in the body of the piece Mr Shatter clearly and correctly states "From an Irish perspective the complexity of the difficulties ahead cannot be overestimated".
“Can’t be underestimated” means the difficulties are minimal, and so low that it is not possible to underestimate them. Similarly “can’t be overestimated” means that the difficulties are so enormous that you cannot overstate them.
This is an error repeated daily on BBC news bulletins and elsewhere.
Some argue that the word “cannot” is used in the sense that one “cannot afford to underestimate” this or that.
If that is what is meant, that is what should be said, or written, even in headlines. – Yours, etc,
DENNIS KENNEDY,
Belfast.