The Irish qu estion is back centre stage in British politics

T HE ‘Irish question’, as it used to be known, has dogged UK politics for generations. Now it’s back centre stage in the context of Brexit.

Theresa May, who gambled and lost, will have to depend on the 10 DUP members in the British parliament to stay in power. Although the Northern party officially favoured leaving the EU, the last thing it or its supporters want is a return to the hard Border of the last century.

It wants a frictionless Border. And if the British prime minister – no matter who she or he is – brings back a package to parliament from Brussels with a hard Brexit and hard Border controls, the unionist 10 will be under strong domestic pressure to reject it, plunging the whole withdrawal process into further chaos.

Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin both believe the UK general election results suggest there is not a strong mandate for a hard Brexit and that they provide an opportunity for Ireland.

It has been a remarkable election, with most politicians, pollsters and pundits getting it wrong once again and the public’s view becoming harder than ever to read. In an era of uncertainty, the only certainty is that Theresa May is severely weakened as a leader and certainly won’t lead the Conservatives into the next election.

One of her predecessors, Winston Churchill, was asked to describe the qualifications a politician needed. He suggested: “The ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.”

Mrs May was sure she knew what would happen when she called a snap general election. She expected a thumping big majority to strengthen her hand a year after the people of the UK voted to leave the European Union. She made it clear that she was going to walk away from a bad Brexit deal, saying no deal was better.

However, the implications for trade of leaving the customs union and the single market have hit home with many UK voters, who voted accordingly.

The prime minister ended up with more votes but fewer seats than she had at the start of the campaign. Her party remains divided over Europe.

Granted, it destroyed Ukip, which now has no seats in parliament. But that party’s former leader, Nigel Farage, hinted yesterday he would return to the political fray if there was any backsliding on Brexit.

Mrs May also created an opportunity for Jeremy Corbyn to come across like a real politician who appeals to a broad constituency, especially the young. They appear to have voted in larger numbers than usual.

The promise of free university education was appealing to many young people who face the prospects of leaving college with crippling debt – something that will be noticed by Irish politicians who are grappling with the possibility of a milder version of the UK student loans scheme here.

The election was good and bad for nationalists on these islands. The Scottish Nationalist Party lost 21 seats, while Sinn Féin gained three.

There is one major difference. The Scottish nationalist voice will still be heard in the UK parliament but the Northern nationalists won’t because of Sinn Féin’s increasingly untenable abstentionist policy.