THE IRISH BACKSTOP

THE IRISH BACKSTOP

A little back story on Ireland.

In 1801 Great Britain colonized Ireland, forcing the Irish to join the United Kingdom. About 40 years later (1844) Ireland suffered from a big starvation, which led to the death of more than 1 million people and the emigration of another million. Ireland then accused Great Britain of not doing anything to help them by not providing them any food, which contributed to aggravate the situation. In 1916 the Irish used the war context to try to establish an Irish Republic: it’s the Easter Rising. However, the attempt was strongly repressed by the English bombing Dublin. 3 years later it’s the war, the Irish separatists organized surprise and targeted attacks and in 1921 a treaty was signed: Ireland regained its independence to a large extend, but a part in the North remained under the authority of the British Government. A civil war then began in Northern Ireland between Catholic nationalists who wished to reunite Ireland and Protestant loyalists who still wanted to be part of Great Britain. Attacks between military and terrorist organizations such as the IRA were multiplying and killing a large amount of people on both sides. The situation only got better 70 years later in 1998 with the “Good Friday Agreement” which provided the release of political prisoners and the disarmament of separatist terrorist groups, as well as the decentralization of power. In exchange, the nationalists had to give up on a reunification with the Republic of Ireland for the moment.

What do we call Backstop? Why is the Irish border one of the biggest controversial parts of Brexit?

If the United Kingdom ends up leaving the European Union, there could be major repercussions on the Irish border, especially regarding trade controls. The Republic of Ireland which is not part of the United Kingdom unlike Northern Ireland, is much likely to end up with other trade standards and rules than its neighbor and Great Britain. As a matter of fact, the UK actually decided to leave the single market and the custom union (agreements supposed to make trading between countries from the EU easier) in addition to the European Union. Only this decision could mean the return of a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as all the vehicles crossing the border must be checked to make sure they fit the European standards. Irish people are extremely afraid of the consequences of a physical border which could lead to the reappearance of tensions between the two Irelands. The UK and EU both agree on not wanting a hard border to happen but disagree on solutions to adopt. A Back-stop arrangement was suggested by EU negotiators involving a transition period in which the UK will remain a member of the EU economic territory. This arrangement aims to give the government and companies time to adjust.