NEWS ANALYSIS
How Ireland outmanoeuvred Britain on Brexit
The Irish question shaped the negotiations, exposed the flaws in the Brexit rhetoric of 'control' and ultimately put the entire project in jeopardy
London — The day after former UK prime minister David Cameron unveiled his plan for a Brexit referendum in January 2013 he grabbed his Irish counterpart, Enda Kenny, in a VIP room in Davos. Cameron told Kenny he had to hold the vote, according to one of the people with them. But there was no reason to worry, everything would be okay. The exchange suggests that Cameron, whatever other mistakes he might have made, at least realised the difficulties that Brexit would pose for Britain’s closest neighbour. That awareness was lost as the shock referendum result consumed the British establishment. It was a critical mistake. As the talks played out over the next two-and-a-half years, the Irish question would shape the negotiations, expose the flaws in the Brexit rhetoric of “control” and ultimately put the entire project in jeopardy. Last week Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, was pleading with EU leaders for a lifeline to break the impasse created by the Irish border. This account of how t...
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