Brexit, Borders and Backstops: The Challenge of the Irish-British Frontier

• In Event: Campaigns and Crises in Ireland

Abstract

The prolonged debate about the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union reflected the political, social, economic and ideological challenges associated with a geopolitical realignment on this vast scale. But it highlighted one issue that proved strikingly resistant to resolution and that ultimately constituted a major obstacle to withdrawal: the Irish “backstop” designed to minimise the impact of any new land border between the UK and the EU (and therefore between Northern and Southern Ireland).

Brexit has thus posed a singular dilemma for Northern Ireland, torn between an exiting member state and one which is remaining. This dilemma is at its most acute among those who staunchly defend the constitutional status quo: Northern Ireland unionists, whose representatives have played a central role in the UK House of Commons, where they have held the balance of power since 2016. Having seen off the traditional nationalist irredentist challenge, an achievement recorded most solemnly in the Good Friday agreement of 1998, Northern Ireland unionists were alarmed by the risk that the Brexit process might re-open the constitutional question. Paradoxically, though, Northern Ireland was to witness an unusual alliance between committed adherence to the Brexit position and strong support for the union.

The object of this paper is to explore this paradox: to what extent might it be possible to account for the “strange” alliance between strong Brexit and committed unionist perspectives—is the alliance indeed as “strange” as it appears, and, if so, how can we explain its basis? The paper addresses this question by looking in turn at three aspects of the relationship between ideology and opinion in Northern Ireland: the social roots of Protestant support for the Union, the nature of Protestant attitudes towards Europe, and the extent to which convergence between these two perspectives may be explained. The paper concludes by assessing the implications of Protestant and unionist attitudes for the future relationship of the United Kingdom not just with its Northern Ireland region but with the EU over all.

Author

• John Coakley, Queen's University, Belfast