Nonsensical Boris has us praying May will stay to avoid Brexit Armageddon

After British Foreign Secretary’s inane and inaccurate remarks on Irish border...

RECENTLY, I was among a group of people who were given a tour of a major business premises in the North of Ireland. We were taken through the manufacturing process from start to finish of their product. Throughout the presentation, the business’s representative frequently referred to the fact that a significant number of the components used to make the finished product had been sourced from the Republic of Ireland.

Given the fact that the business involved was situated in an area of the North which would have staunchly voted for Brexit, I was tempted to ask how the impending exit from the European Union would impact on their future production. In deference to all the others present, I refrained from doing so. And yet, I couldn’t get it out of my mind for some time after, that it is ironic that, more than likely, the majority of the employees of this company had voted for Brexit, without particularly thinking out the adverse practical effects of same on the wellbeing of the business, from which derived their livelihood.

Given the fact that I live no more than 10km from the border, I’m acutely aware of how people and businesses close to the border will be adversely affected by Brexit, soft or hard. My recent visit to this world-renowned manufacturing facility, well away from the border, clearly showed to me that it will not just be border communities that will be affected by the impending Brexit.

LISTENING to the presentation, the nonsensical words of British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, which he made this week, were ringing in my ears. He stated that the Irish border issue ‘is so small and there are so few firms that actually use that border regularly, it’s just beyond belief that we are allowing the tail to wag the dog in this way’.

For someone in such a pivotal position in decision-making in the UK political system to make these inane and inaccurate remarks is a clear illustration as to how dysfunctional the present political climate in Westminster is. The Taoiseach on Wednesday clearly showed his frustration with the current situation when he remarked that the UK needs to make decisions and that they continue to adopt the policy of ‘having your cake and eating it’.

The business I visited this week is, no doubt, one of many in the North which are struggling to prepare for whatever is coming down the road. And they are getting no direction, one way or the other, from their politicians in Westminster, or indeed, closer to home. The DUP, in their heart of hearts, must know that businesses, such as this, will find it much more difficult to source required products, post Brexit. And yet, they continue to cling to their ‘head in the sand’ attitude, at least in public, that the centre of their world is Westminster.

It intrigues me that leading figures in business in the North of Ireland have, by and large, remained silent to date, in the face of potential significant downsides flowing from Brexit.

One of the most embarrassing meetings I had, during my ministerial career, was when, as minister with responsibility for energy, I held a meeting in Leinster House with business leaders from the North, mainly from the energy sector. It was clear to me that the vast majority of them were of a unionist persuasion. They came to Dublin to express frustration at what they saw as a lack of urgency on the part of their southern counterparts regarding the implementation of the all-island electricity market.

They clearly saw the economic advantage in treating the island as one unit. And yet, with an impending Brexit, there does not seem to be a coherent lobby of their politicians by the Northern business community in this respect.

Of course, the DUP are not the only ones at fault for the North not having an articulate voice on potential Brexit implications. Sinn Féin has been unable to rise above the ‘cash for ash’ debacle and put their differences with the DUP aside in the interests of all of the people in the North.

Is it any wonder that the bureaucrats in Brussels are completely bemused as to how disorganised the UK is in the Brexit negotiations.

It is somewhat sad to see how a nation, which historically, has been a major world power for centuries, can be reduced to such a chaotic state of affairs, in a relatively short space of time.

IN fairness, Theresa May, despite her disastrous decision to call an election, has battled against all the odds to hold things together, as much as possible.

While, this week, she has given some hostages to fortune, she has, slowly but surely, engineered a situation where a no-deal Brexit is unlikely to occur.

And she deserves credit for this. But, week by week, we are getting to crunch time when decisions will have to be made. While there are no indications that another UK general election will be called in the near future, if, by any chance, May has to fall on her sword, all hell will break loose, and there is no predicting what will happen after that.

Given all the wheeling and dealing she has had to do, she might get to the point where she would have no option but to cut and run. Indeed, it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that, ultimately, in the event of a final deal being on the table, she could adopt a position that she has done all that she could with the EU, and, then, resign, blaming Westminster Parliamentary arithmetic difficulties. This may very well be her last throw of the dice.

I’m sure that both the Irish Government and the EU bureaucrats are praying that May will continue to lead the UK Government.

Any alternative would be Armageddon, from a Brexit point of view.