Northern Ireland deal on Brexit easier but UK-wide solutions are also possible

The Westminster rejection is a disappointment but we must use our imagination to reshape British-Irish relations, writes Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

‘There were customs checks and border posts ... It separated people from each other’

TO paraphrase de Tocqueville, any major political negotiation is like a novel. And the most difficult part to write is the end. Ever since the Brexit referendum, we have worked hard with our European partners to find an ending to the Brexit story that will work for all sides.

We had a few overall objectives: to agree the terms on which the UK will leave the EU, to avoid a hard border, protect the rights and freedoms of citizens North and South, and to secure a close future trading relationship with our nearest neighbour to protect our economy and jobs, especially in exposed sectors such as agrifood, fisheries and small exporters.

After some tough and complicated negotiations — with both sides making compromises — we reached a fair and balanced agreement and found what we believed was the best way forward. After two and a half years of political uncertainty, it seemed an end was finally within sight.

Unfortunately, the House of Commons voted to reject the Withdrawal Agreement and the associated Joint Political Declaration.

We are disappointed but not dejected. The stakes are too high to do anything except continue to seek a way forward, while ensuring that we are prepared at home for whatever happens next.

As things stand, the UK will leave the EU on March 29, with or without an agreement. That is 68 days away.

While working towards the best possible resolution, we are also preparing for the worst, a no-deal exit.

So we have moved from contingency planning, to actively preparing for no deal.

As a Government we are putting the necessary legislation in place by March. Preparations are already under way at our ports and airports for new customs arrangements, with all relevant checks.

We are working to ensure that supplies of medicine are not interrupted. Supports for our exporters, businesses and employers are already available and more may be needed.

The entire engine of Government is being utilised to ensure we are ready — as best we can be — for no deal.

Things won’t be the same after Brexit. It represents a permanent change in our relationship with Britain. We will work hard to develop this new and different relationship, together. But we will remain at the heart of the European Union, as European citizens in a Single Market and in the euro. They will drift away from that.

It is a British decision to leave, and we respect it, but we also regret it. Our objective is to minimise its impact and the harm it will undoubtedly cause.

We know that if the UK exits without an agreement, it will be damaging for all sides. And there is a responsibility on all of us to avoid that. I believe that an agreement is possible, one that reflects our shared commitment to avoiding a hard border on this island and respects the integrity of the Single Market and EU law.

Some people might wonder if we should compromise on the border and the backstop. My answer is to remind them that we used to have a hard border between Ireland North and South. I remember it well.

During the Troubles, before the Single Market came into effect in 1992, I remember crossing the Border. There were customs checks and border posts. There were soldiers, sheds, fences and men in uniform. It separated people from each other.

I never want to see that return. This driving principle is the reason I have been so determined to secure an agreement over the past year and a half.

With our European partners, we worked hard and in good faith for a solution. That solution has now been rejected by Westminster. We therefore need urgently to hear from London on how it wishes to proceed. The ball is in the UK’s court.

The onus is on Westminster to come up with solutions that both they and the EU, including Ireland, can accept.

The backstop is, of course, a means to an end. It is a legally operable guarantee that there will never again be a hard border. We wrote it with the UK government and elements were included at their request, like the single customs territory encompassing Britain as well as Northern Ireland.

We have always said that if the UK were to evolve from its red lines — on the Customs Union, on the rules and regulations of the Single Market — the EU position could evolve too. The European Council has said as much on a number of occasions. Solutions and special arrangements that are specific to Northern Ireland are easier to negotiate and implement given its size and unique history and geography, but UK-wide solutions are possible too.

As Prime Minister May stated last week in the House of Commons, it is not enough for people to say they don’t want a hard border. She’s right. We need to put in place laws to ensure this will never take place. And the best mechanism to ensure this is a long-term, close trading relationship between the EU and Britain.

The backstop is a simple insurance policy, one which ensures that, unless and until we agree a better solution, we will avoid having a hard border through alignment on customs and goods’ regulation on both sides of the border.

Brexit is the defining political issue of our generation. I firmly believe we can find a solution that is in the best interests of the people of the EU and UK. This is what we will work towards in the weeks ahead.

It is in the best interests of the EU and the UK to finalise a withdrawal agreement and then conclude a permanent new relationship arrangement.

Finding an ending to the challenge of Brexit will require considerable imagination, but doing so will allow us to usher in a new chapter in European-British and British-Irish relations.