Sir, – Perhaps it may be time for compromise on the backstop.
To work, a compromise must give both sides something they want, and not amount to a climbdown. Might I suggest the following: the UK may exit unilaterally from the backstop on condition that, before it does so, it holds a binding referendum in Northern Ireland in which the people of Northern Ireland have the opportunity to determine whether they would rather have regulatory and customs alignment with the UK, or with the EU. If they opt for the EU, they could of course maintain their place in the UK, but as a separate customs territory from it.
Nobody would be trapped. Nobody would be forced. The can would be kicked down the road. The UK could avoid the backstop and sign up to the withdrawal agreement. The parties in Northern Ireland could claim a victory for democracy and the Belfast Agreement. Everyone would avoid the disruption of a hard Brexit. And in two years’ time when, we may hope, a more enlightened government takes power in the UK, it may thank us for not giving the current one an excuse to burn the place down. – Yours, etc,
ALAN DOYLE,
Blackrock
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The EU and many of its constituent states have been warning the UK about the risks to peace in Northern Ireland that would emanate from a hard Brexit. Justin Trudeau also spoke in this regard, and now Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Congress in the US, has been issuing similar warnings. It appears that the part of the Anglophone world least worried about a return to violence in Northern Ireland is Britain itself.
In spite of repeated statements about the importance of the “cherished” union, and in spite of a large annual financial subsidy for Northern Ireland, British politicians and the British public seem not to care too much about Northern Ireland.
It is often said that the British don’t understand the Irish, but we Irish will never understand the British fully unto we can explain the reasoning behind their extraordinary contradictory attitude to Northern Ireland. – Yours, etc,
MARY MORRISSEY,
Castletownbere,
Co Cork.
A chara, – Colin Walsh (July 27th) writes that Ireland is about to achieve "a Pyrrhic victory with our vain insistence on the backstop". He may have missed the repeated declarations from prominent members of the 80-strong European Research Group, the 80-strong group of implacably anti-European group MPs, that they will continue to vote down the Withdrawal Agreement, even if the backstop is entirely removed. Their goal is a no-deal Brexit, and if we surrender on the backstop, they will simply invent new reasons to vote down the deal.
Furthermore, Ireland accepting a deal without a backstop means we accept border checks will be needed in future. In the real world, only deep, binding economic convergence and common rules can make border checks unnecessary. The Brexiteers who now control the UK government furiously reject any such outcome.
Their desired outcome is for the UK and EU to form two rigidly separate political and economic spheres, like the US and Canada. Such separation requires a hard border, with guards, barriers, and systematic checks on travellers – the type of border that exists between any two countries not in economic union, and the exact outcome the backstop was created to prevent.
Let’s not fool ourselves. Giving up the backstop would not only fail to get the Withdrawal Agreement passed, it would also indicate Ireland accepts a hard border as a legitimate future relationship. It would be a pointless act of self-harm, with no good outcome, much like Brexit itself. In light of gleeful proclamations by British MPs that they will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement come what may, Ireland gains nothing whatsoever by dropping the backstop now. – Is mise,
RORY CROTTY,
Douglas,
Cork.
Sir, – Turbocharging is a process where the hot gases from the backside of an engine are used to compress the incoming air. This to make a small engine more efficient and powerful.
This in my view is a good analogy for the current British administration’s preparations for Brexit. Of course there is always the danger of blowing a gasket. – Yours, etc,
JOHN E HEGARTY,
Glanmire,
Cork.
Sir, – For some reason all the commentators seem to think that the English electorate cannot be bought with Boris’s promises. Remember the big red Brexit bus and dream on. – Yours, etc,
DAVID MURNANE,
Dunshaughlin,
Co Meath.
Sir, –Boris Mr Johnson’s insurmountable problem is that he simply doesn’t have the numbers in the House of Commons to force through a no-deal Brexit. For instance, it’s less than two weeks since a cross-party alliance of MPs passed a motion, with a substantial majority of 41, that prevents the suspension of parliament as a first step towards taking the UK out of the EU without an agreement.
Brussels knows that a British general election or second referendum must happen first before there can be a no-deal Brexit; the EU will not blink. – Yours, etc,
JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – From listening to TV interviews, I believe that every minister in Boris Johnson’s new cabinet is under orders not to refer to “the backstop”, but to “this undemocratic Backstop”. Since the backstop was negotiated by the democratically elected government of the UK, it’s hard to follow the logic of this. But with Boris Johnson, spin trumps logic, and even truth, every time! – Yours, etc,
TERRY PATTISON,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.