Drawing the Line - The Irish Border in British Politics

The Irish border is a contentious issue in British politics, as it could scupper any final agreement on Brexit and derail relations with Ireland and Europe. This book charts the genesis of the border in the early 20th century and examines how it has soured relations between Ireland and Britain, leading to extremist republican military campaigns. The Good Friday Agreement's understanding that the border will only change with a majority decision in Northern Ireland is now uncertain due to Brexit. British indifference and ignorance about the impacts of the border must not continue.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 90 pages
Publication date: 24 February 2022
Publisher: Haus Publishing

The Irish border, which is approaching a century in age, is currently one of the most contentious issues in British politics. For the majority of its history, the border seldom crossed the minds of most British people until the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Now, twenty years after the landmark Good Friday Agreement that helped to end British-Irish conflict, the question of the Irish border could jeopardize any final agreement on Britain's exit from the European Union, threatening to derail Britain's relationship not only with Ireland but with the entirety of Europe.

This book charts the genesis of the Irish border in the early 20th century and examines how the border's existence strained relations between Ireland and Britain in the subsequent decades, leading to the emergence of extremist republican military campaigns to eradicate the border in the 1950s and in the recent Troubles.

The understanding at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, that there will be no change in the status of the border unless and until there is a majority decision in Northern Ireland in favor, is now thrown into uncertainty as Brexit draws near. Once again, the Irish border is the crux of controversy at the forefront of British politics.

Drawing the Line provides a concise explanation of the historical background to the current controversy by outlining how the border has continually bedeviled relations between the two countries, why the future of the Irish border after Brexit is of crucial importance, and why British indifference and ignorance about the impacts of the border must not continue.

Weight: 104g
Dimension: 172 x 118 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781912208296