I'm quite happy the EU made the Irish border one of the key issues needing clarified before moving on with these talks, it's such an important issue and I feel it was largely ignored by people in Britain during the Brexit debate. I wouldn't have any faith in our government to provide concrete info on it any time soon without EU pressure.
Garth wrote:I'm quite happy the EU made the Irish border one of the key issues needing clarified before moving on with these talks, it's such an important issue and I feel it was largely ignored by people in Britain during the Brexit debate. I wouldn't have any faith in our government to provide concrete info on it any time soon without EU pressure.
It is a good thing.
Too bad, the EU dictators are evil commie space Nazis, eh?
Squinty wrote:Too bad, the EU dictators are evil commie space Nazis, eh?
It’s quite amusing at the moment to see the people that are usually shouting “The EU is a dictatorship that forces sovereign nations to obey it!” are now blaming the EU for not getting involved in Spain/Catalonia. Once that’s pointed out, they switch to “well the EU is interring with our internal politics with N Ireland!”.
Maybe Northern Ireland and Catalonia could merge into a new nation known as Catland?
Errkal wrote:That border may be one of the very very few things we can actually use to gain something in negotiations as they want it more open.
In theory yes, but the fact that the UK doesn't seem to know what it wants when it comes to the border over 1 year on from the brexit vote doesn't bode well.
Errkal wrote:That border may be one of the very very few things we can actually use to gain something in negotiations as they want it more open.
In theory yes, but the fact that the UK doesn't seem to know what it wants when it comes to the border over 1 year on from the brexit vote doesn't bode well.
They probably don't give a toss what happens. Really they should take the stance of whatever is worst for the EU if they don't care then can move towards the eus view in return for other stuff, means they can make gains from something they don't really give a monkeys about.
Errkal wrote:That border may be one of the very very few things we can actually use to gain something in negotiations as they want it more open.
Maybe, although I am not sure France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany etc give much of a gooseberry fool.
How much trade/movement passes from the Republic to N Ireland and how much passes from N Ireland to the Republic? It might badly hurt the Republic and N Ireland, but is the rest of the EU and the UK going to care?
Errkal wrote:That border may be one of the very very few things we can actually use to gain something in negotiations as they want it more open.
Maybe, although I am not sure France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany etc give much of a gooseberry fool.
How much trade/movement passes from the Republic to N Ireland and how much passes from N Ireland to the Republic? It might badly hurt the Republic and N Ireland, but is the rest of the EU and the UK going to care?
I wouldn't have thought either would care, however as the EU has come up with a "what it would like to see" someone clearly does and as such we should use that to make some form of gain elsewhere.
"Solidarity with Ireland and Irish citizens. What has been clear from the beginning is that we will never allow that Ireland will suffer by the British decision to leave the European Union," Mr Verhofstadt said.
"That's a commitment that we have taken with the European Parliament, and it's a commitment that has been taken by the European Union as a whole."
I think its obvious what the UK government wants to achieve at the Irish border. We want a border that's soft for UK and Irish citizens and hard for anyone else.
So if you're a UK/ROI citizen, the border shall take the form of an utterly invisible, physically irrelevant line, over which you can freely pass - multiple times per year, day, even journey (as is needed for those roads that wind in and out of our two nations). Much like it is now.
Citizens from anywhere else will find that the border is physically present, and thus cannot be passed apart from at specific checkpoints if carrying the correct forms. If a non UK/ROI citizen attempts to cross the border, they'll be hit by an invisible wall, a la the edge of the dome in The Hunger Games or the point at which the ocean finishes in Vice City (to name but two examples).
I'm sure every single British citizen agrees this is the simplest solution. If the EU wishes to prevent, block or undermine this on the grounds of "viability" then it's up to them to propose an alternative.
Generating Real Conversations About Digital Entertainment
Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:I think its obvious what the UK government wants to achieve at the Irish border. We want a border that's soft for UK and Irish citizens and hard for anyone else.
So if you're a UK/ROI citizen, the border shall take the form of an utterly invisible, physically irrelevant line, over which you can freely pass - multiple times per year, day, even journey (as is needed for those roads that wind in and out of our two nations). Much like it is now.
Citizens from anywhere else will find that the border is physically present, and thus cannot be passed apart from at specific checkpoints if carrying the correct forms. If a non UK/ROI citizen attempts to cross the border, they'll be hit by an invisible wall, a la the edge of the dome in The Hunger Games or the point at which the ocean finishes in Vice City (to name but two examples).
I'm sure every single British citizen agrees this is the simplest solution. If the EU wishes to prevent, block or undermine this on the grounds of "viability" then it's up to them to propose an alternative.
You make it sound really complicated but it would actually be really simple.
All you need to do is make every single person in the EU wear a bomb collar. If they enter the UK legally then we can remove the bomb. If they enter illegally then the collar explodes and their heads pop off.
If they are not trying to sneak in illegally then they have nothing to fear from the bomb collars and so I cannot see why they wouldn’t support this idea.
Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:I think its obvious what the UK government wants to achieve at the Irish border. We want a border that's soft for UK and Irish citizens and hard for anyone else.
So if you're a UK/ROI citizen, the border shall take the form of an utterly invisible, physically irrelevant line, over which you can freely pass - multiple times per year, day, even journey (as is needed for those roads that wind in and out of our two nations). Much like it is now.
Citizens from anywhere else will find that the border is physically present, and thus cannot be passed apart from at specific checkpoints if carrying the correct forms. If a non UK/ROI citizen attempts to cross the border, they'll be hit by an invisible wall, a la the edge of the dome in The Hunger Games or the point at which the ocean finishes in Vice City (to name but two examples).
I'm sure every single British citizen agrees this is the simplest solution. If the EU wishes to prevent, block or undermine this on the grounds of "viability" then it's up to them to propose an alternative.
All joking aside, that's similar to the Irish sea Border where in the entirety of the island uses customs at their own sea/air ports, easier entry from Europe in the republic and more rigorous in the north. It's literally the only way I can see it working, the DUP would have a panic attack though.