Ignoring the very real dangers of a hard border won’t solve anything

THE Taoiseach’s comments on the possible deployment of troops on the border in the event of a ‘hard’ Brexit have been roundly criticised but, on this occasion, the opprobrium directed at Mr Varadkar feels misplaced. To be absolutely clear, no one north or south – except the murderous drug smuggling crime gangs euphemistically referred to as ‘dissident’ republicans – wants to see a return of a militarised border between the North and the Republic.

As uncertainty over Brexit mounts and the UK’s divorce from the EU looms ever closer, anyone who doesn’t at least acknowledge the possibility is naive in the extreme.

Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, when asked about the worst case scenario after a hard Brexit, Mr Varadkar said that the Irish military may need to patrol and protect potential border infrastructure – and the customs and police operating them – from dissident attacks.

His comments drew a swift response from political opponents. Fianna Fáil leader Michael Martin – who has been warning about the huge risks of Brexit for far longer than most Irish politicians – said the Taoiseach’s comments “contradicted” everything the public has been told about Government efforts to avoid a hard border.

In a rare display of political consensus, Sinn Féin and unionists also went on the attack.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called Mr Varadkar “reckless and irresponsible” while the Ulster Unionist Party accused the Taoiseach of “ramping up tensions”. Many media commentators also piled pressure on Mr Varadkar over his supposed “gaffe”.

When it comes to putting both feet in his mouth while on a foreign jaunt, Leo Varadkar certainly has form.

His cringe inducing comments about the film ‘Love Actually’ during his first official visit to Downing Street and his grossly ill advised boast about helping Donald Trump block a wind farm near his Clare golf course are two particularly bad examples of this unfortunate habit.

However unwelcome they were, his comments about a potential army presence on the border do not fall into the same category.

As politicians of all shades do their utmost to bury their heads in the sand and try to ignore what could happen on the border Mr Varadkar has been refreshingly honest.

No one wants to see it but the worrying reality that we all must face is that should there be a hard Brexit, a hard border – at least for a time – seems inevitable.

Such a border would certainly be a potential target for attacks by dissidents who – as seen in Derry recently – are already ramping up their campaign.

In an important intervention, former PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde – a man who knows more than most about border security – agreed with Mr Varadkar’s worst case scenario.

Both men need to be listened to. Simply ignoring the danger that a hard border would create won’t magically make it go away.

As the old sporting adage goes, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. In this case that failure is literally a matter of life and death.