To be fair, the Ireland/Northern Ireland border is a pretty big issue. I'm not going to point fingers and say what which side said about it, because frankly I don't know.
I just wanted too point out that the "keeping the border open" option had never been about wanted to be left out and closed off, but for that to only apply one-way. It's about keeping the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and ONLY that specific border open, (and open both way).
Of course that causes it's own set of problem because then anyone could just enter the UK from Ireland and vice-versa (Europe from Northern Ireland), which is why "just keeping that border open" is impossible and has not ever really been considered - from any side.
And for that, I don't get @stevep59 point in the first place: There IS a real issue about N Ireland (which you don't seem to be aware of? At least in the UK, that's the ONE thing everyone -pro and anti Brexit alike- agree on) but no one can find a workable solution. But I don't think be can blame the UK or Europe for not finding an easy solution for a difficult problem.
So in case you didn't know what is was all about, here's the problem: The Troubles, which was a period of very bloody conflict in N. Ireland and made a lot of victims, only ended in 1998 and a lot of the reasons for it are still there. It only ended thanks to the Good Friday Agreement which, notably created a number of institutions between N. Ireland and Ireland (and thus between Ireland and the UK) and because could people could move freely between the two thanks to both of them being in the EU.
Now, the problem is that with the UK leaving the EU, the border is going to close and these institution probably can't bee maintained, and a lot of people are afraid that this will cause the conflict to re-emerge
And also, a more day-to-day issue: a lot of people live in Ireland but work in N.Ireland and vice-versa, or just have family on both side of the border, etc. and thus placing a new border because of the Brexit annoys them (especially since, right now, I don't think there's even a separate passport between N.Ireland and Ireland)
TL;DR: The issue of the border between Ireland and N. Ireland is a mess, and will definitely cause some kind of problem, and everyone actually agree about that. The only question is how bad it's going to be. Keeping the border open would solve a lot of the problems, but obviously it can't be done because you can't just close every border of a country except one, or what's the point ? And thus nothing gets done and it's still a mess.
19
@belga
To be fair, the Ireland/Northern Ireland border is a pretty big issue. I'm not going to point fingers and say what which side said about it, because frankly I don't know.
I just wanted too point out that the "keeping the border open" option had never been about wanted to be left out and closed off, but for that to only apply one-way. It's about keeping the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and ONLY that specific border open, (and open both way).
Of course that causes it's own set of problem because then anyone could just enter the UK from Ireland and vice-versa (Europe from Northern Ireland), which is why "just keeping that border open" is impossible and has not ever really been considered - from any side.
And for that, I don't get @stevep59 point in the first place: There IS a real issue about N Ireland (which you don't seem to be aware of? At least in the UK, that's the ONE thing everyone -pro and anti Brexit alike- agree on) but no one can find a workable solution. But I don't think be can blame the UK or Europe for not finding an easy solution for a difficult problem.
So in case you didn't know what is was all about, here's the problem: The Troubles, which was a period of very bloody conflict in N. Ireland and made a lot of victims, only ended in 1998 and a lot of the reasons for it are still there. It only ended thanks to the Good Friday Agreement which, notably created a number of institutions between N. Ireland and Ireland (and thus between Ireland and the UK) and because could people could move freely between the two thanks to both of them being in the EU.
Now, the problem is that with the UK leaving the EU, the border is going to close and these institution probably can't bee maintained, and a lot of people are afraid that this will cause the conflict to re-emerge
And also, a more day-to-day issue: a lot of people live in Ireland but work in N.Ireland and vice-versa, or just have family on both side of the border, etc. and thus placing a new border because of the Brexit annoys them (especially since, right now, I don't think there's even a separate passport between N.Ireland and Ireland)
TL;DR: The issue of the border between Ireland and N. Ireland is a mess, and will definitely cause some kind of problem, and everyone actually agree about that. The only question is how bad it's going to be. Keeping the border open would solve a lot of the problems, but obviously it can't be done because you can't just close every border of a country except one, or what's the point ? And thus nothing gets done and it's still a mess.