It’s time to get real about the Irish border

sir – Boris Johnson regards Brexit as “done”, though it clearly isn’t.

It is now almost six years since the referendum and Northern Ireland remains a sticking point. The DUP is citing the Northern Ireland Protocol as the reason for stalling power-sharing at Stormont (report, May 12). While this is more likely to be due to concerns about unification, the Protocol is nevertheless a major obstacle and progress will only be made once it is dealt with.

The problem is that, to all intents and purposes, there is no solution. The UK, including Northern Ireland, left the EU in accordance with peoples’ wishes (including the DUP’S), and this resulted in a trading border between Northern Ireland, which is now outside the EU, and the Republic of Ireland, which is still a member.

Anything that softens the border between the two will, by definition, result in a hardening of the border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. You can’t have it both ways: you are either in the EU or not. That was the choice we were given.

Attempting to fudge the matter in order to appease all concerned, including the EU, is unlikely to succeed. At some point reality will have to prevail.

Ron Stubberfield Broadway, Worcestershire