Opinion | Sadhbh Walshe: 'Great Britain's very own Donald Trump is happily prepared to steer the country into an economic crisis. And that's the least of the bad news to come.' - NBCNewsTHINK
When Britain voted in 2016 to leave the E.U., it did so against the wishes of the majority in Northern Ireland who voted to remain and in spite of the aghast objections of the neighboring government of the Republic of Ireland. Part of the reason for their broad opposition was that, 21 years ago, the British and Irish governments entered a hard-won peace agreement, known as the Good Friday accords, which brought an uneasy end to 30 years of war in Northern Ireland .
This was possible as long as Britain and the Republic of Ireland were both E.U. members — meaning that goods and people could move freely between Ireland and Northern Ireland and no border checks were necessary. Britain’s decision to check out of the E.U. and the Schengen Agreement, which eliminated border controls between E.U. member states, means that it, by default, checks out of the Good Friday accords and.
Fortunately for all of Ireland, the E.U. is not prepared to enable Britain to undermine the accords even after it leaves the union and so is. That would involve Northern Ireland, and only Northern Ireland, staying in the European customs union if the U.K. leaves the EU without securing a deal.
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