This does raise the broader point of an effective border between the Republic and the rest of the UK, a border which has never really existed in any modern sense. This means I am going to have to show my passport tothat **** at Stansted. He is going to love this....
What you are really doing is leaving Northern Ireland open and keeping a mainland border. If a hard border on the island is unacceptable then this really is the only option.
I still dont see why this has to mean no deal. It sounds like *******s to me.
As with any 'intractable' diplomatic problem, it simply screams out for a fudge in which one thing is said and quite another done. So either an 'open' border which is actually manned or a 'hard' border that is not enforced. Unfortunately, there does seem to be too little flexibility or subtlety being shown by either side to achieve such a thing.
It's the Irish, I'm afraid. They can't be trusted to behave decently. Here we have the self-infantilisation of a naturally subject people swearing blind that unless they get what they want, they'll have no choice but to start blowing the legs off policemen again and it'll be none of their responsibility. It's fùcking pathetic.
As the Great Lady put it: "You can't trust the Irish. They are all liars."