Northern Ireland: Brexit, Borders And Back To The Future

The province faces damaging trade tariffs and a return to restrictions on movement between the north and the south after the uk leaves the eu. There may be trouble ahead, says matthew gwyther.

- Matthew Gwyther

When we all woke up on 24 June last year, few were more surprised than the inhabitants of Northern Ireland. The population there voted heavily for Remain: 55.8% to stay put, 44.2% to Leave. But the province is small and lacks clout. Accounting for a mere 789,879 votes of the 33,577,342 UK total, the Northern Irish are now living with a Brexit reality the implications of which are even more profound than those faced by other Brits over on the mainland.

Set apart across the Irish Sea, Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK – Gibraltar aside – to share a land border with another EU member, the Irish Republic. This distance and difference leads many Northern Irish to believe they are of marginal significance to those in England, especially those in Westminster. The divisive importance of religion emphasises that sense of otherness. Catholic and republican Sinn Féin was strongly for Remain. The DUP was for leaving but clearly did not take anything like the whole Protestant population with it – the current religious split is thought to be 48% Protestant and 45% Catholic.

Since the Good Friday Agreement of 1999 and an end to The Troubles – which had caused the deaths of more than 3,500 people since 1969 – Northern Ireland’s economy has edged forward. The centres of Belfast and Londonderry are buzzing with a new ‘cappuccino culture’ and appear, in some ways, barely recognisable from the bad old days. The majority of growth since 1999 has been thanks to EU largesse. The North received almost £2.5bn in the last EU handout round and a further £2bn had been promised before 2020. This is now in doubt.