Comments by "Taint ABird" (@taintabird23) on "Why the Brexit Backstop is so important for Northern Ireland and Britain | DW News" video.

The British put the border there, not the Irish.
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@ StonkingDave Three counties of Ulster are already in the republic.
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@jonnyenglish1776 You don't have border with France and Germany. NI is not part of Britain. It's on the other island.
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@ P S 'it was a UK wide referendum what part of that do you not understand' I don't understand it because there is clearly a diminishing British Demos and no constitutional account for the Scots and the N Irish voting to remain. There is a democratic deficit at the heart of the Brexit business.
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@roryohare1573 I that what you think? The rest of the know that it's because of May's redlines. Frankly, anybody can see that Brexit is incompatible with the Belfast Agreement...except Leavers.
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@roryohare1573 It doesn't matter.
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All that's wrong with you is that you thought you could have your cake and eat it. The increased costs and paper work are a consequence of GB leaving the Single Market and Customs Union. One of the benefits of the SM was that it dispensed with all that red tape and now you have chosen to leave the it. Now you understand the benefits of membership and why other countries wish to join the bloc. The Republic of Ireland got a billion Euro to help Irish business deal with the consequences of a democratic decision that it had no say in, but for which Brexiters were happy to be collaterally damaged. The Irish remain members of the EU, unlike NI or GB and, as the EU stands by it members, it provided cash to help the Irish to continue to access the Single Market - another benefit of membership. Some of this money will be invested in Rosslare Europort which has experienced a 500% increase in business since January 1st, to increase its capacity and make a 'smart port'. You're complaint sounds to me like you regret the Irish not being disadvantaged by Brexit. You need to stop your whinging and remember that Brexit was masterminded by billionaires and millionaires who will be unaffected by the UK leaving the EU, indeed, they will be better off. Many if not all of them are members of the Tory Party. A poll of the membership of the Tory Party tells us that they wanted Brexit more than they wanted to maintain the 'precious union;. They don't care about Northern Ireland, and they agreed to the border being in Irish Sea because they wanted Brexit. These are the people you need to blame for your current situation, not the EU. They don't care about you.
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'Independence from both' is not an option outlined in the Belfast Agreement. Its not British nationalism that is increasing - that's diminishing - its English nationalism that is the hornets nest.
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@ Sarah hardcastle 'When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?' - John Maynard Keynes.
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Ireland has no interest in leaving the EU.
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The problem is that the UK wants it cake and it wants to eat it.
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@ P S Who is going to erect a hard border. Both Ireland and UK will have to erect a hard border. Ireland will erect a hard border to protect the Single Market, the UK will be required to deploy checks for WTO purposes. Another hard border will be erected by the UKs denial of Irish identity and the EU rights of Irish citizens in NI in contravention of Article 1 (vi) of the Belfast Agreement. The UK has provided no solutions to this problem either. Dissident IRA have already set off a bomb in County Fermanagh this week (Fermanagh is on the border) and so armed security will in due course be returning to the border. I told you that there is a diminishing UK demos - what part of that do you not understand?. Most Leave voters are English and identified as such in the 2011 census, or as English first and British second. There is a direct co-relation between the pattern of leave voters and the expression of English identity in the 2011 Census. Brexiters don’t care about the UK, and we know from recent polls of members of the Tory party that they want Brexit more that they want to maintain the United Kingdom. The only reason the backstop is an issue is because the Tories are stuck depending on the DUP to keep Corbyn out of power. Brexit is a product of an English identity crisis and a Tory party at war with itself. Both the Scots and Northern Irish voted to remain and the fact that they are leaving is indicative of a democratic deficit in a union that is no longer fit for purpose. Therefore, your comment, is disingenuous. Texas is not at all like NI, it is true, but neither is any other part of the UK for that matter. NI can vote to leave the UK at any time and its citizens are entitled to plural identities. The citizens of say, Somerset, do not have this right and cannot claim an identity that is Irish, British, both or neither. You have never read the Belfast Agreement, and neither have your Brexiter leaders. The EU is mentioned in relation to the development of cross border relationships, their funding etc, in relation to Strand Two. These cross border relationship (Agriculture, Education, Transport, Environment, Waterways, Social Welfare, Tourism, Inland Fisheries, Aquaculture, Health and Urban development) will be disrupted or halted as the UK will be outside the EU. This is significant for the island of Ireland. The people of NI did not vote for this. While Northern Ireland remains part of the UK, the BA states that no changes to status of NI can be carried out unless the people NI vote for it. NI nationalists did not vote to lose their EU rights that come with their Irish identity which they are permitted to have under the Belfast Agreement. So, your argument is baseless and pointless.
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@jonnyenglish1776 This all correct. Do you have a point?
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Well, the country that joined the EU was of course much poorer than the Ireland of today. The average Irish income was only about 2 thirds of the UK average income at that time. Ireland made use of EEC/EU funds to modernise its economy and infrastructure. Now average incomes are almost double that of the UK, and its economy is more global. Ireland could afford NI if there was a transition period.
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It does not need to be unanimous.
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fluffymufti Irish people needed permits to travel to the UK during WW2.
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@PS-ru2ov Like I said, against a backdrop of a diminishing British demos and the fact that the dup don't represent the majority in NI this is a weak argument. There will be constitutional consequences.
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@Simon T Right, so how will checks be conducted?
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And what if they find they have to employ checks on the border in order to meet the requirement of checking goods for tariff reasons?
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@alangaillard2988 'Probably thanks for the WWII support.' What support?
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@alangaillard2988 Many happy returns...
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@ Rural The UK will leave and there will be a hard border from the EU side. But how will the UK take it down? It will be on the Irish side of the border. The problem for the UK is that only Brexiters see the UK leaving with no deal resulting in a hard border as being the fault of somebody else. Once a hard border goes up, both the US Senate and House of Representatives has said they will block any US-UK trade deal as they will hold the UK responsible for the hard border. The Irish will hold the UK responsible. The EU will hold the UK responsible.
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@ Ian Bullough The Irish and EU tactic is to watch the UK leave without the WA, protect the SM, and wait. The EU will support Ireland in finding ways around the UK land bridge - helping to expand ports in both Ireland and France. Of course there will be huge problems for Irish farmers and small businesses, but the FDI sector will remain untouched by Brexit. This will send an important signal to the UK and to all the small countries in Europe that the EU is serious about protecting its members. It will help to bolster the image of the EU across its membership Once the UK has experienced the reality of WTO, the quality of the trade deal the US is offering and the fact that it will be held up in House of Representatives and the Senate by the descendants of different generation of Irish people shafted by the English nationalists, the UK will return to the EU seeking a deal and clutching its 39 billion. The EU will hand the UK the WA and a pen. Then a proper negotiation will begin on the future relationship between the UK and the EU, with Ireland working hard with the UK to ensure it gets the best deal possible. It is curious as to what is going on with Boris and the Brexiters. They're painting Merkels comment about 30 days to come up with an alternative to the backstop as some sort of sign that the EU is blinking. And yet nobody is saying anything new.
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@ Rural Rebel Tory Ireland will not put up a hard border. It simply cannot be done, politically or physically. It seems to me that the Irish government and the EU are working on some other arrangement, an imposition on Ireland caused by Brexit, that will protect the EU and prevent a hard border. Tactically, Dublin knows that “no deal” is only “no deal” for now. The UK must eventually do a trade deal with the EU because of all of that trade you listed with EU countries in your post. No matter what the political and economic fallout, the UK will be back at the table soon. The more chaos at British ports, the shorter the self-imposed mercantile lockout. The suppression of the Impact Assessments indicate that this chaos will be more serious than Brexiters can admit and they don't trust their divided society to accept whats coming to them. When the UK returns to the negotiating table, they will be handed the WA and a pen. Ireland has been far more successful in diversifying from the UK than the UK has been in diversifying from Ireland. Today, Ireland remains the UK’s fifth largest export market and as you can see from your list, the UK exports more to Ireland than it does to China with its population of 1.4bn. Furthermore, the UK runs a large trade surplus with Ireland — in fact, its second-largest trade surplus after the US. Strangling Ireland would hurt UK business much more than the other way around. What Brexiters don't understand is that the EU is not all about the big countries and what they want. Most of the countries in the EU have smaller economies and even populations than Ireland. They are watching how the EU behaves when one of its smaller members is confronted by a larger bully. Standing up to the UK is the greatest PR coup the EU has had and it will help to strengthen the bloc going forward. Trading on WTO rules is a primitive form of trade, a mere safety net. No advanced economy depends on it. With India and other emerging economies prioritising their pending trade deals with the EU and the United States engaging in national chauvinism, the UK will not have its choice of trade deals. Other countries will copy the USA and take the opportunity to hit up the UK for a trade deal at time when it is weak. Any deal the US gives you will see the UK as rule taker. Democrats in the Senate will get enough Republicans of Irish extraction to back blocking the deal and its a Democrat House already. Meanwhile, the UK will be in turmoil, politically, socially, economically and probably constitutionally going forward. While the UK is deeply divided over Brexit, there is consensus in Ireland and across the EU in relation to the UK leaving. The Troubles will erupt again in Northern Ireland as Brexit has removed all the ambiguities that the Belfast Agreement put in place. Peace was possible because of those ambiguities. The first bomb exploded on the border in Fermanagh this week. By the way, can you think of any promises Brexiters made that actually came to pass?
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@IanBullough Tell me Ian, what is the politics of the republic, What per centage of the Irish economy is agri-based? Why do you think the EU would want the spoiled brats back into the bloc? It remains the case that the UK needs a trade deal with EU more than the EU needs a trade deal with the UK.
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@IanBullough The simple fact is you can't answer my questions and you don't know what you are talking about.
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'once we've left, we won't be coming back, so that isn't an issue'. So why mention it then? The Irish economy is much less dependent on the UK than many Brexiters imagine. Tactically, Dublin knows that “no deal” is only “no deal” for now. The UK must eventually do a trade deal with the EU because 46 per cent of UK exports go to the EU and 53 per cent of UK imports come from the EU. The UK will be back for a trade deal with the EU sooner rather than later, and the EU will hand them the WA and a pen. Ireland has been far more successful in diversifying from the UK than the UK has been in diversifying from Ireland. Today, Ireland is the UK’s fifth largest export market. Britain exports more to Ireland than it does to China with its population of 1.4bn. Furthermore, the UK runs a large trade surplus with Ireland — in fact, its second-largest trade surplus after the US. Brexit will hurt UK business much more than the other way around, but Brexiters will tell you that 90% of Irish exports go to the UK - some of them are in your government.
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'Why don't we let Ireland sort it's own borders out?' Ireland has only one border, and it was sorted out. Brexit seeks to control the UKs borders AND simultaneously leave it open. 'They can have a hard border between Northern Ireland and Eire.' Nobody in Ireland wants a hard border. 'Northern Ireland cane leave the Unite Kingdom.' Northern Ireland does not wish to leave the United Kingdom. 'Eire can JOIN the United Kingdom.' Why would Ireland give up its sovereignty to accommodate Brexit? It has all the democratic deficits it had when Ireland left a century ago - as Brexit demonstrates. The fact is, the UK needs to accept the WA, and negotiate a new relationship with the EU.
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This is the kind of stuff that the British establishment used to say about the Irish when they strove for independence. Today, Scottish and Welsh nationalists look to Ireland with some envy as it is secure in the EU where it is treated as an equal member. For a small country, Ireland has a high profile cultural identity, embassies all over the world, and knows how to uses its sovereignty better with the EU than the UK does. There is no reason why the Welsh and in particular the Scots cannot have the same The Irish average income is almost double its UK counterpart, and Ireland has flexible and dynamic open economy that is more global than the UKs. Exports from Ireland account for 178% of GDP - considerably higher than the EU average. And independent Wales and Scotland within the will experience some years of economic restructuring as Ireland did, but will ultimately enjoy all the benefits of EU membership. If Northern Ireland leaves the UK it will immediately rejoin the EU with Irish unity. Scotland should be able to join the EU within a few years of independence, as should Wales - though Welsh nationalism has a lot of development to do.
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Yes, but will have lower taxes and be outside the EU, with no trade deal. Ireland on the other hand will be able to offer full access to the EU to all English speaking investors and freedom of movement for employers.
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Why would the EU not fund it?
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Of course they would. It would be a huge and positive success story for the EU.
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Why?
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How is that 'realistic'?
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