BLOG – Brexit and Anglo-Irish Relations

The Common Travel Area: Fragmented, Flexible…Vulnerable?

Imelda Maher (University College Dublin) A mixture of pragmatism, political convenience, and legal obscurity, the Common Travel Area (CTA) dates from the 1920s. It allows British and Irish citizens to travel freely between the two states (and the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) and provides an array of reciprocal ‘rights and privileges’. It does…
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The Limits to Creativity and Flexibility: Responding to the UK ‘Command Paper’ on the Northern Ireland Protocol

Niall Moran (Dublin City University) On July 21, the UK government published its Command Paper seeking fundamental change to the rules governing trade in goods and the “overarching institutional framework” of the Protocol on Ireland/ Northern Ireland. Later that day, Commission Vice-President Maros Ševčovič clarified in a statement that the EU is not willing to…
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100 Years of Partition: The NI Protocol and the Irish Question

Orlaith Rice (University College Dublin) The UK’s decision to leave the EU has inadvertently put the question of Irish (re)unification back on the table, 100 years after the island was partitioned. The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (NI Protocol) de facto keeps Northern Ireland (NI) in the EU single market. Trade between NI and the rest…
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The Brexit Trilemma and Northern Irish Unionists: A very British matter

Sebastian Ludwicki-Ziegler (University of Stirling) The debate on how to address the border question in Northern Ireland is much older than Brexit. However, since the Brexit referendum, this fight over where to put a border and whether to have one has been reignited. The choices made by the British government but also by Northern Irish…
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Human Rights and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol

Brian Gormally (Committee on the Administration of Justice) Violent political conflict always means a bonfire of human rights. Conflict on this island has been no exception. Amidst many atrocities committed by state and non-state actors, my organisation, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) was founded in 1981 to keep the hope of a…
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Brexit and Northern Ireland: A role for the US?

Mary C. Murphy (University College Cork) Since the early days of the Troubles, the US has maintained a keen interest in Northern Ireland affairs and US soft power arguably played a role in mediating the conflict. As Brexit (and other domestic issues) appear stuck and seemingly irresolvable, the time may be ripe for the US…
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The Legality of the Protocol

Rory Montgomery (Queen’s University Belfast/ Trinity College Dublin) The Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol remains deeply contentious in Northern Ireland, though fortunately since April opposition to it has not contributed to violence. Unionists continue to demand either its abolition, or, at a minimum, a major alteration in its treatment of the movement of goods between Great Britain…
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Brexit and the EU’s relations with other European countries

Patrick Bijsmans (Maastricht University) If there is one thing that has become clear during the long years of Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK, it is that the EU27 – despite their differences – were able to act in a united way when it came to negotiating with a soon-to-be third country. Highlighting…
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Consent and Compromise

Rory O’Connell (Ulster University) A leading UK academic, Vernon Bogdanor, has published a view that the NI protocol was imposed on the people of Northern Ireland without their consent. It is true that Northern Irish MPs voted against the Protocol and that the NI Assembly did not consent to the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.…
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The Northern Ireland Protocol: What next for the Democratic Unionist Party?

Henry Jarrett (University of Exeter) What is the Protocol? Despite featuring little in the referendum campaigns of both the Leave and Remain camps, the Northern Ireland border became arguably the most significant sticking point of the Brexit negotiations after the UK voted to leave the EU on 23rd June 2016. The key challenge for the…
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Morbid symptoms and the nomination of a new Northern Ireland First Minister

Cillian McGrattan (Ulster University) The nomination by the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Edwin Poots, of Paul Givan as the First Minister of the Northern Irish power sharing executive comes at a time of deep uncertainty within Ulster unionism. There are numerous reasons for this highly volatile situation and its implications for…
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Belfast/Good Friday Agreement & the Erosion of Trust

Lisa Claire Whitten (Queen’s University Belfast) Signatories to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement pledged to “firmly dedicate” themselves” to the pursuit of “reconciliation, tolerance and mutual trust” in the hope of moving away from the “deep and profoundly regrettable legacy of suffering” left by “tragedies” in Northern Ireland’s ‘troubling’ past. Fast forward 23 years and, despite…
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An Uneasy Peace: The Protocol = War!

Lee McGowan (Queen’s University Belfast) Over Easter 2021 Northern Ireland witnessed in its centenary year some of its worst cases of sustained street violence in many loyalist areas of Greater Belfast and Londonderry since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. This manifestation of violence much from these communities is the product of…
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The Northern Ireland Protocol and the Future of the Union

Eileen Connolly and John Doyle (Dublin City University) In our recent working paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU we argued that the deep divisions in Northern Ireland on its constitutional status will make the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement a constant source of EU-UK friction, even if the…
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“Don’t Mention the Poll”: The Good Friday Agreement and À la Carte Consent

Donnacha Ó Beacháin (Dublin City University) The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) anticipated the need for constitutional change and one of its many achievements is that it gave us an agreed mechanism for how that could be implemented. The GFA’s success was in large part due to nationalists and republicans agreeing to accept Northern Ireland, despite…
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Brexit, Market Adjustment and the Irish Sea

Gerard McCann (St Mary’s University College) John Maynard Keynes observantly noted of European realignment coming out of the Great War, that: “When the final result is expected to be a compromise, it is often prudent to start from an extreme position”. Brandon Lewis, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, opened the UK Government’s new round…
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Human Rights and Equality Provisions under the Northern Ireland Protocol

Colin Murray and Clare Rice (Newcastle University) Although much of the focus on the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement’s Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland has been directed towards trade, its arrangements extends far beyond these issues. We examine the human rights and equality provisions contained in Article 2 of the Protocol, and consider the implications of these for…
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Northern Ireland, Brexit & Jumping Scales

Aoife O’Donoghue (Durham University) and Sylvia de Mars (Newcastle University) Many outside the Brexit bubble probably wonder why we are still talking about it. Those dissatisfied with the Brexit ‘agreements’ probably place the blame for all lasting issues squarely on Northern Ireland’s shoulders – though who specifically to point the finger at, for most, remains…
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Welcome to the Magic World of International Law

Paola Mariani (Bocconi University) The United Kingdom left the European Union at midnight on 31 January 2020 under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement. But due to the transition period expired last 31 December 2020, only now we can start to understand the real meaning of Brexit. The same can be said for the Protocol…
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Brexit’s Graceless Diplomacy

Feargal Cochrane (University of Kent) Divorce is rarely a pleasant experience. Even with the best will in the world, with partners agreeing to an amicable separation for the sake of the children, the specific arrangements and interpretation of what ‘being amicable’ amounts to, can quickly lead to mistrust, accusations of bad faith and bitter recrimination.…
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Trade In Goods And Level Playing Field

Paola Mariani and Giorgio Sacerdoti (Bocconi University) More than four years after the 2016 Brexit referendum, EU and UK at last concluded a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) at the last possible moment, on Christmas Eve 2020. The Trade in goods chapter is the core of the free trade agreement since provisions on trade in…
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A new dawn for the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland?

Dagmar Schiek (University College Cork) If social and print media are to be believed, a change of the Protocol on Ireland Northern Ireland is imminent – or not. At least there are negotiations going on, either on its better implementation, or its abolition, depending on the reader. The public debate tends to lay too much…
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Last-Minute Legislating as the Brexit Deal is Concluded

Joelle Grogan (Middlesex University London) On Christmas Eve 2020, only seven days before the end of the transition period and a ‘No Deal’ Brexit on 31 December 2020, negotiators concluded a Draft Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the UK and the EU. On any scale of negotiation for an international agreement, particularly one of this…
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Lifting the Carpet: the NI Protocol and Cross-border VAT Fraud

Dylan J. Wilkinson (QUB) Much of the academic and media focus on Brexit, perhaps reasonably, centralises on its short-term effects. Seldom does consideration extend beyond this. However, a lingering question is what will the perception of Brexit be in the distant future? How will Brexit be explained and taught in the decades to come? What…
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Johnson’s ‘Oven Ready’ Brexit is a Slow Burner

Feargal Cochrane (University of Kent) Boris Johnson won last year’s general election, in part, because of his claim to have an ‘oven ready’ Brexit. ‘We’ve just got to put it in at gas mark four, give it 20 minutes and Bob’s your uncle. …We have a deal with the EU that is ready to go,…
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Taking Stock of What a Joe Biden Presidency Means for Brexit Negotiations

Pieter Cleppe (PRA) The question of how the prospect of a Joe Biden Presidency will affect EU-UK negotiations has raised a lot of attention. Opinions seem to differ. Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage writes that “Joe Biden is no friend of Britain”, arguing that therefore, the UK, “is now far more likely to do…
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Backstop, Frontstop, Full Stop?

Cathal McCall (Queen’s University Belfast) Backstop The backstop became the major bone of contention in the Draft Agreement on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (2018). It was contained in Draft Agreement’s Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. The Protocol decreed…
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Disruptive Transitioning and the New Political Normal

Gerard McCann (St Mary’s University College, QUB) The ongoing tussle between Downing Street and Brussels over the problematic Internal Market Bill has not been wholly unexpected.1 The political trajectory, where the United Kingdom (UK) government would willingly break international law, contravene already given governmental commitments and frustrate the workings of the Belfast Agreement, was predicable.…
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Boris Johnson’s Brexit Myopia

Jonathan Stevenson (International Institute for Strategic Studies) During the run-up to the June 2016 referendum on Brexit and for a time thereafter, Brexiteers neglected the importance of Northern Ireland – a 56% majority of which would vote to remain – in their calculations. In particular, they failed to appreciate the political role that the European…
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Retained EU Case Law: A Fourth Option

Kate Ollerenshaw (University of Cambridge) The Ministry of Justice issued a consultation paper on Retained EU Case Law on 2 July 2020, seeking views on the exercise of the powers contained within Section 6(5A) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”) that were inserted by Section 26(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (“the 2020…
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The Internal Market Bill and Northern Ireland

Clare Rice (Newcastle University) Summary The publication of the UK’s Internal Market Bill (IMB) on 9th September marked a decisive change in course for talks with the EU. Days of speculation about what it would contain after a scoop from journalist Peter Foster sent shockwaves across the globe, with responses from senior figures in the…
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John Hume and Northern Ireland’s European Space

Anthony Soares (Centre for Cross Border Studies) During one of the many television news items dedicated to reflecting on the importance of John Hume following his death, a journalist posed the question as to whether the city of Derry had been diminished by his loss. Derry – and indeed Northern Ireland and the island of…
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A Road to Nowhere? The UK’s Approach to Implementing the NI Protocol

Clare Rice (Newcastle University Law School) The UK government’s long-awaited command paper, outlining a framework of how it plans to implement the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland of the Withdrawal Agreement, was published on 20 May. There was anticipation that this would provide an insight to the UK’s thinking on not only the macro-level…
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The Northern Ireland Protocol: Governing Northern Ireland after Brexit

Cillian McGrattan (Ulster University) Slowly but surely the British government is beginning to clarify its thinking on what Brexit might mean for the governance of Northern Ireland. Michael Gove, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, was summoned to give a statement to the House of Commons on the issue…
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The UK’s Approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol

Aoife O’Donoghue (Durham Law School) The publication of the UK’s Approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol is not a moment of clarity. Those wanting detail on how Northern Ireland will fit into the UK and EU’s future trade relations with each other and the rest of the world are not given much beyond what we…
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22 Years after the Good Friday Agreement: Brexit, Covid-19 and New Governments

John Doyle (Dublin City University) On 10 April 1998 the Good Friday Agreement was reached in Northern Ireland, bringing a 25 year old armed conflict to a conclusion and paving the way for a new political system based on power-sharing in Northern Ireland, greater North-South integration on the island of Ireland and a positive collaborative…
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The Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Protocol and Eternal Vigilance

John Cotter (Keele University) The 10th April will mark the twenty-second anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The contemporary public health crisis aside, it is quite likely that the Agreement would have received less attention this year than it has in the past four years. Throughout the fraught period in which the…
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The Good Friday Agreement and Irish Unification: Constitutional Issues

Oran Doyle (Trinity College Dublin) The Good Friday Agreement, which marks its 22nd anniversary this Good Friday, built a new model of power-sharing politics on the foundation of a territorial compromise. On the one hand, Ireland and Irish Nationalists accepted the legitimacy of Northern Ireland’s status as a component part of the United Kingdom. On…
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Brexit and Ireland

Gavin Barrett (UCD Sutherland Law School) 31 January 2020 will go down in history as the date on which Brexit took place. Its economic effects, however (because it has been followed by a transition period under Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement) will not be felt before the end of 2020  – and potentially not…
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General Election 2020 – Change and the non Brexit election

Gary Murphy (Dublin City University) The last decade has been the most historic in Irish electoral life. The Irish party system, once amongst the most stable in modern Europe has been destroyed by the economic crash. That crash sundered party loyalty. The result has been large swings in the three elections since 2011. The 2011…
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Ireland, Brexit, and the 2020 General Elections

Eoin O’Malley (Dublin City University) Ireland votes on 8 February. The last Dáil (parliament) lasted almost four years, about three and a half longer than many people expected. One of the reasons for its longevity was Brexit. The government formed in 2016 after 70 days of stand-off and negotiations was a minority one that depended…
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Northern Ireland’s ‘New Approach’ in a Decade of Uncertainty

Clare Rice (University of Newcastle) Changes in the political sphere in Northern Ireland have been happening rapidly in the weeks since the 2019 General Election. At that stage, Northern Ireland did not have a functioning Assembly or Executive, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) were fresh from their relationship breakdown with Boris Johnson, healthcare workers were…
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General Election 2019: The Brexit Election in Northern Ireland?

Clare Rice (Newcastle University) Central to the 2019 General Election campaigns in Northern Ireland has been the tactical manoeuvres of the political parties. The early stages of the election were dominated by party announcements about where candidates would and wouldn’t be running, and quickly formal and informal electoral pacts emerged. In some instances, it was…
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Brexit as a Constitutional Moment? Reflections from Ireland

Benedict Douglas (Durham University) Devolution in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales suggests that the act of voting in referenda can fundamentally change how individuals view themselves in their relationship with the state: from subjects defined by duties to citizens with rights. However, the experience of the Republic of Ireland provides an example of where fundamental…
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Wither Green Brexit? Northern Ireland’s environment and the new Brexit Deal

Viviane Gravey (Queen’s University Belfast) Another deal, another extension, another general election: recent Brexit developments invite us to revisit what we think Brexit means and the impact it will have on the UK in general and Northern Ireland in particular. This is notably the case for one of the (few) positive surprises of the Brexit process…
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A Backstop for the Backward?

A Backstop for the Backward? Colin Murray (Newcastle University)   A Brexit deal is, on paper at least, done. Michel Barnier solemnly informed the gathered media that the controversial backstop arrangements contained within the draft Withdrawal Agreement’s Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol have been replaced by a new “democratic cornerstone”. The question that remains is whether this…
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 Brexit and Blockchain Technology

This article is the first of a Brexit Institute Blog Series on “Brexit and blockchain technology”, where we aim to assess the impact of blockchain on the Brexit process under various perspectives. Other contributions are going to be featured in the coming weeks.  Brexit and Blockchain Technology     Lory Kehoe (Consensys) A cornerstone of…
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An alternative to the Irish Backstop: an All-Ireland “Common No-Custom Area”

An alternative to the Irish Backstop: an All-Ireland “Common No-Custom Area” as a Frontier Traffic Area under Art. 24 of GATT for products originating in the island (“Ireland-Made”), allowing regulatory divergence by the UK in respect of the EU without necessitating a hard border in Ireland     Giorgio Sacerdoti (Università Bocconi) and Niall Moran…
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Brexit and the future of Fintech  

This article introduces the event “Brexit, the Irish Economy and the Future of European Fintech” that will be hosted by the Brexit Institute at Maldron Hotel Dublin Airport on Monday, 16 September 2019. The event features a keynote speech given by Paschal Donohoe (Minister of Finance of Ireland).     Brexit and the future of Fintech…
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The Irish Border and the Safeguard of the UK Territorial Integrity

The Irish Border and the Safeguard of the UK Territorial Integrity   David Collins (City University) The border in Ireland has emerged as the most significant, perhaps the only remaining barrier to the conclusion of sensible trade arrangements between the UK and the EU post-Brexit. It may also be the main reason why so many…
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No Deal, No Backstop: The Potential Impact on Northern Ireland

No Deal, No Backstop: The Potential Impact on Northern Ireland   Cameron Boyle (Immigration Advice Service) As we hurtle towards our Brexit deadline of the 31st of October, the prospect of leaving without a deal appears increasingly likely. Not only this, but Boris Johnson has now described the Irish backstop – a means of ensuring…
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The Common Travel Area and GATS Art. V

The Common Travel Area and GATS Art. V Charlotte Sieber-Gasser (DCU Brexit Institute) The Common Travel Area and Movement across Borders between Ireland and UK As all of Europe is taking precautionary measures for the scenario of a No-Deal Brexit, let’s take a look at the Common Travel Area (CTA) and its ability to protect free…
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Brexit and the Political Economy of Northern Ireland

Brexit and the Political Economy of Northern Ireland M. Leann Brown (University of Florida) There has been a flood of speculation, analysis, predictions and dire warnings about the possible economic consequences of the secession of the United Kingdom from the European Union for Northern Ireland (NI). Much of this commentary focuses on the possible effects on…
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Facing the Rights and Equality Crisis: Achieving a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland in the wake of Brexit

Facing the Rights and Equality Crisis: Achieving a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland in the wake of Brexit Anne Smith (Ulster University) and Colin Harvey (Queen’s University Belfast)   Brexit is giving rise to anxiety about a ‘major constitutional change’ that is creating ‘constitutional uncertainty’, but it has also resulted in a ‘constitutional moment’…
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Brexiting Party Politics in Northern Ireland – Civil Society Alternatives

Brexiting Party Politics in Northern Ireland – Civil Society Alternatives Cillian McGrattan (Ulster University)   The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) topped the poll in the recent Northern Ireland local government elections: 24.1%, an increase of 1% from 2014, compared with its cross-community rival Sinn Fein, which won 23.2%, a decrease of almost 1% from the…
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The Good Friday Agreement and Brexit

The Good Friday Agreement and Brexit Rory O’Connell (Ulster University)   The murder of the journalist Lyra McKee on the eve of Good Friday 2019 is a tragic reminder of the successes and failures of the Peace Process, and the challenges facing it. That her death made international headlines reflects in one sense the success…
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Will Brexit Return Northern Ireland to War or Reinforce the Status Quo?

Will Brexit Return Northern Ireland to War or Reinforce the Status Quo? Carolyn Gallaher and Kimberly Cowell-Meyers (American University, Washington, DC.)   A lot has been written about what Brexit may do to the British economy and its place in the world. People are also finally starting to pay attention to what Brexit may mean for…
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Belated Brexit and Groundhog Talks in Northern Ireland

Belated Brexit and Groundhog Talks in Northern Ireland Cillian McGrattan (Ulster University)   Fumbled Beginnings The latest round of talks in Northern Ireland to restore devolved power-sharing has not begun well. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP, Ian Paisley, for instance, has suggested that Tanaiste Simon Coveney should ‘butt out’ of Northern Irish affairs. Paisley’s…
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‘A Beacon to the World’: The Good Friday Agreement at Twenty-One

‘A Beacon to the World’: The Good Friday Agreement at Twenty-One Donnacha Ó Beacháin (Dublin City University) The Good Friday Agreement, which is 21 years old this month, institutionalised a peace process that has fundamentally altered day-to-day life in Ireland, where an entire generation has grown up without the spectre of violence. The labyrinthine road…
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All-Island Customs Union: No Cure-All for the Irish Border Neither

All-Island Customs Union: No Cure-All for the Irish Border Neither  Charlotte Sieber-Gasser (DCU Brexit Institute) The “All-Ireland Common No-Custom Area” as suggested by Giorgio Sacerdoti and Paola Mariani on this Blog yesterday has its merits: it liberates the UK from the need to remain in a Customs Union with the EU in order to avoid a…
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An alternative to the Irish Backstop? An “All-Ireland Common No-Custom Area” as a Frontier Traffic Area under Art. XXIV GATT for products originating in the island

Giorgio Sacerdoti & Paola Mariani (Bocconi University) This article is a proposal which will be discussed in future blogs. (a) The situation envisaged under the Backstop. Let us first recall the terms of the issue. During the transition period (which will last until, at the latest, December 2022), the UK government will negotiate other future…
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The Future of the All-island Single Electricity Market Post-Brexit

The Future of the All-island Single Electricity Market Post- Brexit Dr. Tanya Harrington (Powerscourt Group)   Introduction The Single Electricity Market (SEM) has a proud 12-year long track-record of delivering secure electricity supplies to citizens on the island of Ireland. It is emblematic of EU energy policy for regional governance in terms of the degree…
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Event Report: Brexit, the Backstop and the Island of Ireland

Event Report: Brexit, the Backstop and the Island of Ireland Alessandro De Nicola  (DCU Brexit Institute) On 13 December 2018, the DCU Brexit Institute, in partnership with the Centre for Constitutional Change (CCC) organized an event on “Brexit, the Backstop and the Island of Ireland”, held at the Helix, in Dublin City University. This event…
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The Irish Backstop Plan: Alternative Routes or Clearer Guarantees?

Upcoming Event, 13 December: Brexit, the Backstop and the Island of Ireland The Irish Backstop Plan: Alternative Routes or Clearer Guarantees? Chloé Papazian (DCU Brexit Institute) The political chaos currently prevailing in Westminster has increasingly exposed the risk of a hard Brexit, namely a withdrawal of the UK from the EU in March 2019 without any deal.…
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Defence, Security and Brexit: Ireland’s Dilemma

Defence, Security and Brexit: Ireland’s Dilemma Kenneth McDonagh (Dublin City University) EU security and defence cooperation has always existed in something of a quantum state – we can know where we are or how fast we’re moving but not both at the same time. In recent weeks both Emmanuel Macronand Angela Merkel have called for versions…
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Brexit and the Great Disruption in UK-Irish Relations

Brexit and the Great Disruption in UK-Irish Relations John O’Brennan (Maynooth University) What we have seen play out in recent weeks in Brussels, Dublin and London is a remarkable ‘reverse asymmetry’ in UK-Irish relations: the historical dynamic of British power over Ireland yielded to the inside-outside asymmetrical logic of the Article 50 negotiations on Brexit:…
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Will a Hard Brexit Lead to a Hard Border? WTO Law and the Backstop

Will a Hard Brexit Lead to a Hard Border? WTO Law and the Backstop Chloé Papazian (Dublin City University) On 7 December 2017, the EU and the UK Government concluded in a Joint Report that they should agree on a so-called ‘backstop’ solution for the Irish border to prevent a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.…
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Some Reflections on the Current UK and EU Positions on Brexit

Some Reflections on the Current UK and EU Positions on Brexit Chloé Papazian (DCU Brexit Institute) On 20 September 2018, Mr David Lidington, the UK Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is the de facto No 2 in the UK Government’s “chain of command” after Prime Minister Theresa May, visited the DCU Brexit Institute. The Minister…
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The Oireachtas and Brexit

The Oireachtas and Brexit Gavin Barrett (University College Dublin) The Irish parliament has not traditionally been numbered among the stronger parliaments in Europe in exacting accountability in relation to European affairs, either in terms of its institutional strength or its activity level. However, it has over time undergone periodic reform, in particular at the time…
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Brexit, Ireland and the June European Council

Brexit, Ireland and the June European Council Federico Fabbrini Today and tomorrow, 28 and 29 June 2018, the European Council – the body grouping the heads of state and government of the EU member states, together with the President of the European Commission – was due to have a major meeting on Brexit. The meeting…
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Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement IV

Today (April 10) is the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. To mark the occasion, the DCU Brexit Institute blog is publishing pieces by several authors on Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement. This is the fourth and final one. See also: Ben Warwick, Rights in Northern Ireland after Brexit: The Devil is in the Detail; Colin Murray, Policing and Security on the Island of Ireland Post-Brexit; David…
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Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement III

April 10 is the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. To mark the occasion, the DCU Brexit Institute blog is publishing pieces by several authors on Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement. This is the third. See also: Ben Warwick, Rights in Northern Ireland after Brexit: The Devil is in the Detail; Colin Murray, Policing and Security on the Island of Ireland Post-Brexit; Mary C. Murphy, Reclaiming the…
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Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement II

April 10 is the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. To mark the occasion, the DCU Brexit Institute blog is publishing pieces by several authors on Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement. This is the second. See also: Ben Warwick, Rights in Northern Ireland after Brexit: The Devil is in the Detail; David Phinnemore, Protecting the Good Friday Agreement from Brexit: Is the ‘Backstop’ Proposal Enough?; Mary…
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Transport and Trade Implications of Brexit

Transport and Trade Implications of Brexit by Edgar Morgenroth (Dublin City University) While it is generally accepted that Brexit will have a significant impact on UK-EU trade, the precise ways in which trade flows might be impeded is not often discussed. One important area where Brexit is likely to affect goods trade flows is through…
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Inaugural Event “Brexit, Ireland and the Future of Europe”

On January 25, 2018, the DCU Brexit Institute held its Inaugural event on “Brexit, Ireland and the Future of Europe”, organised in partnership with European Movement Ireland and Dublin City University. The event was opened by a Keynote Address by his Excellency Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, followed by keynote speeches by Hillary Benn, Chairman of the UK House of Commons Committee on Exiting the EU, and Herman Van Rompuy, first President of the European Council. After a panel of academics and representatives of civil society, the event will be concluded by a final Keynote Address by Simon Coveney, Tánaiste and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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Brexit and the British-Irish Relationship

The British-Irish relationship has been typified by close cooperation since the 1980s, culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. However, Brexit has created challenges and at times the rhetoric between the British and Irish governments has been heated. It was in response to the perceived need to avoid megaphone diplomacy in the 1980s, following the 1982 Falklands War and the 1981 H-Block hunger strikes where 13 hunger strikers died, that the British-Irish relationship was institutionalised in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. Arguably, Brexit’s challenges justify a commitment to using existing British-Irish institutions more fully or to creating new ones.

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Public Procurement and Brexit: The Risk to Ireland

Public procurement refers to the purchase of goods, works and services by the public sector (and organizations funded in the main through public monies).

In Ireland, as undoubtedly in many other countries, interest in public procurement appears to be inversely related to the fortunes of the economy. In times of economic prosperity the procurement of goods and services by public sector organizations has tended not to be a primary consideration for politicians, policy makers or industry representative groups. However, in recent years public procurement has moved center stage for both the public and private sectors of the economy. For central government, the strategic management of procurement across the public sector has assumed priority status. Expenditure by public sector organizations on a range of goods and services is coming under increasing scrutiny with a view to realizing cost savings.

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Sufficient Progress? Ireland’s Brexit Conundrum

Next week, on 14-15 December 2017 the European Council is set to decide whether sufficient progress has been made in the negotiations on the UK withdrawal from the EU to begin a discussion on the terms of the future relations between the UK and the EU. As is well known, the European Council concluded in October 2017 that, given the uncertainties of the UK Government, not enough progress had taken place by then in the negotiations and that therefore the beginning of phase 2 in the Brexit talks had to be postponed.

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Brexit and the Harmonisation of Corporate Tax

On the 4th October 2017, the European Commission referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to collect tax debts from Apple, following a Commission decision deeming the tax reliefs provided amounted to a breach of EU Competition Law. Ireland allowed Apple to pay between 0.05% and 2% in tax from 2003 to 2014, which, according to the Commission, amounted to up to €13 billion in illegal state aid. Luxembourg was also referred to the ECJ, after giving Amazon €250 million in tax breaks was also deemed to be illegal state aid. Neither country collected the debt, resulting in the recent referrals, and Ireland has appealed the decision to the ECJ.

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Workshop on Brexit, the Border and the Internal Market

The DCU Brexit Institute hosted an event on “Brexit, the Border and the Internal Market” on 26 October 2017, supported by the European Commission Representation in Ireland. The event addressed the issue of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is arguably the most sensitive of the three items in the withdrawal negotiations, and considered also questions concerning the access by the UK to the EU internal market post Brexit.

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Brexit and the Irish Border

The question of the location of the de facto border between Ireland and the UK post Brexit has major significance for the future of peace and economic stability on the island of Ireland.
The issue of the border has not yet been resolved, nor is there any indication that there is an obvious preferred solution for the UK Government, although both the EU and the Irish Government and indeed the UK Government have stated a disinclination for a hard land border. It is feared that a hard land border will not only restrict trade on the island but also, and more importantly, destabilize the Good Friday peace process and lead to a new spiral of violence. This gloomy prediction is reinforced by the nature of the political division in Northern Ireland on the referendum.

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