Irish peace too precious to be squandered by Brexit ultras
... That relations between London and Dublin are now strained is beyond dispute, though officials in Dublin insist that much of the noise is to be expected and aimed at a domestic UK audience rather than Ireland or the EU.
Still, following his appointment, it took almost a week for Johnson to place a phone call with Varadkar, who leads a confidence-and-supply coalition that – while shaky on a series of domestic issues – serves as a national government in all but name for the purposes of Brexit. When the phone call did proceed, both men adopted an uncompromising stance: Johnson insisting the removal of the backstop is a precondition for any deal, Varadkar adamant that the EU will not relent on the withdrawal agreement.
Varadkar rightly reminded Johnson of the British government’s obligation – as a co-signatory of the Good Friday agreement – to exercise its power in respect of Northern Ireland with rigorous impartiality. Johnson’s government relies, for the time being, on the support in the Commons of the Democratic Unionist party to prop up its narrow majority. The difficult parliamentary arithmetic, combined with Johnson’s inflammatory rhetoric, represents a serious challenge to the UK’s obligation to act as an honest broker in respect of Northern Ireland – the majority of whose citizens voted, like their Scottish brethren, to stay in the EU.
And although unionists are being comforted, for now, by Johnson, their confidence that a hard Brexit will not give birth to a united Ireland must also be fraying at the seams. This is not least because nearly two-thirds of the Tory party indicate in polling that they would rather sacrifice the union – and see Northern Ireland and Scotland leave it – than abandon Brexit...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/02/british-no-deal-brexit-irish-peace-unity
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