The Taoiseach’s line on Brexit

A chara, – A report by Fiach Kelly ("Varadkar: Need for Brexit deal before Border plan 'common sense'", August 21st) gives cause for concern that the Government is planning to break ranks with the EU in the Brexit negotiations.

Two statements from the Taoiseach stand out. In the first he is quoted describing as “common sense” the opinion of British Brexit secretary David Davis that the Border needs to be discussed in tandem with future trade relations. When asked later in the article whether he disagreed with Mr Davis’s opinion, which breaches the agreed EU position, the Taoiseach, according to Fiach Kelly, “declined to say”.

By sending mixed messages regarding Brexit, the Government runs the risk of encouraging the UK side in the belief that Irish interests are separate from and in conflict with those of the EU. Driving a wedge between Ireland and the EU certainly has the potential to give the UK an advantage. But it would only be a short-lived advantage; it would only prolong the uncertainty.

If, in pursuit of the objective of preventing a hard border, the Government sides with the UK, the EU negotiators backed by the other 25 member states will still be forced to defend the bloc’s external frontier.

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At the end of the day there will still be a visible Border, but having breached solidarity at a critical time, Ireland will have damaged its EU relationships.

Given the nature of the Brexit negotiations – time-pressured, with many nation states and supranational institutions involved – it is unlikely that untested proposals such as “streamlined customs arrangements” and a “new customs partnership” mentioned in a recent UK position paper will get serious attention, even if the Border is discussed in conjunction with a future trade agreement. Because Brexit is unprecedented, the solutions chosen in the talks are likely to be conservative rather than innovative.

By lending support to David Davis’s argument that the exit negotiations can’t be conducted in isolation from future trade talks, the Taoiseach has identified with the UK case. In going down that route he is raising a false expectation that the Border will remain invisible. He is also jeopardising the EU’s negotiating position. – Yours, etc,

DAVE ALVEY,

Irish Political Review Group,

Bray,

Co Wicklow.