Peace needs Leo to choose words wisely

IN the course of the past fortnight, we have seen once again how the North is a tinderbox. Six days of violence showed that the threat to peace, if the Good Friday Agreement were to be compromised, is not imaginary but palpably real.

There is a reason why this island is at the heart of the Brexit talks, and that reason is peace. The EU grew out of a coal and steel community agreement, but its fundamental purpose was to realise that countries with a shared economic future should never again wage war with each other. That is a principle worth bearing in mind. There clearly is no question of Ireland and the UK going to war, but very obvious evidence that it takes very little to stoke old enmities in the North.

This week’s House of Commons vote on the Customs Union has neutered, if not demolished, the backstop agreed last year by Theresa May, Leo Varadkar and the EU. At the time, many commentators, especially in Britain, casually dismissed the notion that, without a backstop, the North once again could slide into violence. The proof now is in the open.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier addressed the issue, in his response to the week’s events in Westminster, and he did so in diplomatic language, questioning the detail rather than dismissing it outright. He disarmed potential criticism by framing his objections as a request for information, rather than outright derision.

The Taoiseach could learn from that. For no apparent reason, he pointed out that Britain might lose its right to freely use European airspace, handing the UK media a stick with which to beat him.

Mr Varadkar could have anticipated that and simply said nothing. That he didn’t shows a naivety that career diplomats like Mr Barnier never would display.

The way forward is the softer one. Words, like bonfires, can be incendiary. Everyone needs to tread carefully and say no more than they are asked. The price of failure in Brexit negotiations would be painful for Britain, pose an ideological threat to the EU and, most worryingly, threaten the peace we have enjoyed for 20 years. We cannot go backwards.