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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/21/a-border-makes-no-sense-to-us-the-view-from-irelands-frontier
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| A border makes no sense to us: the view from Ireland's frontier A border makes no sense to us: the view from Ireland's frontier | |
| (2 months later) | |
| When it comes to selling fish, Claire O’Reilly really isn’t fussy about customers. They come from all over. There’s an international border just down the road from her shop in the Irish town of Ballyshannon, but no one pays it much notice these days. | When it comes to selling fish, Claire O’Reilly really isn’t fussy about customers. They come from all over. There’s an international border just down the road from her shop in the Irish town of Ballyshannon, but no one pays it much notice these days. |
| “We have people coming in here from Belfast, Derry, Enniskillen, the six counties [Northern Ireland], you name it,” O’Reilly says. “We don’t think of the border since the peace process, we don’t see it.” | “We have people coming in here from Belfast, Derry, Enniskillen, the six counties [Northern Ireland], you name it,” O’Reilly says. “We don’t think of the border since the peace process, we don’t see it.” |
| But for how much longer? Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has already had an impact on trade, says O’Reilly. Shoppers still come from Northern Ireland, but since the decline of sterling they realise they are not getting so much for their money. And the talk of the town is what will happen to the border once Britain leaves the EU. | But for how much longer? Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has already had an impact on trade, says O’Reilly. Shoppers still come from Northern Ireland, but since the decline of sterling they realise they are not getting so much for their money. And the talk of the town is what will happen to the border once Britain leaves the EU. |
| “Brexit will most certainly affect us if they put up a border but I don’t believe it will happen,” she says. “All of those things are totally up in the air. I don’t see any benefits to this, it simply doesn’t make sense to us living on the border.” | “Brexit will most certainly affect us if they put up a border but I don’t believe it will happen,” she says. “All of those things are totally up in the air. I don’t see any benefits to this, it simply doesn’t make sense to us living on the border.” |
| A few miles south, at Blacklion, it’s a similar story. Here, the memories of bombs and checkpoints and troops still linger, but since the 1998 Good Friday agreement, some businesses have been able to make the best of the border village’s picturesque location. | A few miles south, at Blacklion, it’s a similar story. Here, the memories of bombs and checkpoints and troops still linger, but since the 1998 Good Friday agreement, some businesses have been able to make the best of the border village’s picturesque location. |
| Celebrity chef Neven Maguire recalls a time when his family’s business was struggling to make ends meet. Now MacNean House and Restaurant is fully booked for months ahead. | Celebrity chef Neven Maguire recalls a time when his family’s business was struggling to make ends meet. Now MacNean House and Restaurant is fully booked for months ahead. |
| “Cross-border trade is huge,” Maguire says. “People will travel from the north even for Sunday dinner. We do 90 or 100 for Sunday lunch each week. We are booked out until February for Sunday lunch. That has never happened before.” | “Cross-border trade is huge,” Maguire says. “People will travel from the north even for Sunday dinner. We do 90 or 100 for Sunday lunch each week. We are booked out until February for Sunday lunch. That has never happened before.” |
| The big concern is that a “hard Brexit”, in which Britain pulls out of the single market and customs union, will reinscribe the sharp division that was once draped across the island like a noose. | The big concern is that a “hard Brexit”, in which Britain pulls out of the single market and customs union, will reinscribe the sharp division that was once draped across the island like a noose. |
| Maguire admits to being anxious about Brexit and what it may mean for the area. “Of course I am concerned. I would be worried for businesses. Will it affect mine? I think long term it will affect everyone. I think there is so much uncertainty and I don’t think anyone wins. | Maguire admits to being anxious about Brexit and what it may mean for the area. “Of course I am concerned. I would be worried for businesses. Will it affect mine? I think long term it will affect everyone. I think there is so much uncertainty and I don’t think anyone wins. |
| “We don’t want a border, we can’t go back to that. I am a very positive person and I hope people will get on with it as best they can, but it is a scary time,” he says. | “We don’t want a border, we can’t go back to that. I am a very positive person and I hope people will get on with it as best they can, but it is a scary time,” he says. |
| British officials insist they believe they can effect a Brexit without imposing new restrictions along the 310-mile border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This has raised questions: how do you “take back control of borders” if you don’t police them? How do you leave a customs union and set out on a new tariff regime without planning customs operations on a border crossed by more than 100 roads? | British officials insist they believe they can effect a Brexit without imposing new restrictions along the 310-mile border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This has raised questions: how do you “take back control of borders” if you don’t police them? How do you leave a customs union and set out on a new tariff regime without planning customs operations on a border crossed by more than 100 roads? |
| Irish officials hope the solution lies in enforcing immigration controls at entry points to Ireland and ignoring the possibility of EU nationals using Ireland to enter the UK by the back door. “Very few EU citizens want to work in the black economy in the UK,” says one. | Irish officials hope the solution lies in enforcing immigration controls at entry points to Ireland and ignoring the possibility of EU nationals using Ireland to enter the UK by the back door. “Very few EU citizens want to work in the black economy in the UK,” says one. |
| Ballyshannon residents have similar hopes because they don’t want to go back to the kind of confrontation that poisoned this part of the world for decades. | Ballyshannon residents have similar hopes because they don’t want to go back to the kind of confrontation that poisoned this part of the world for decades. |
| Retired bank official Shane Toolan says there is an interdependence with Donegal, in Ireland, and Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland, “culturally, economically, even socially”. “There is that dependence right down to the holidays that we all go on in both areas. The south and the north are very much intertwined,” he said. | Retired bank official Shane Toolan says there is an interdependence with Donegal, in Ireland, and Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland, “culturally, economically, even socially”. “There is that dependence right down to the holidays that we all go on in both areas. The south and the north are very much intertwined,” he said. |
| Toolan prefers to look for the opportunity rather than the negativity. “Perhaps now we can get our tax rates the same, perhaps we can use the opportunity to further enhance what we already have or what we have been striving towards. You just do it in a different way. The reality is it’s nought miles to the border, you take two steps and you’re there. If you think back to the war years, everybody shared with everybody across the way. | Toolan prefers to look for the opportunity rather than the negativity. “Perhaps now we can get our tax rates the same, perhaps we can use the opportunity to further enhance what we already have or what we have been striving towards. You just do it in a different way. The reality is it’s nought miles to the border, you take two steps and you’re there. If you think back to the war years, everybody shared with everybody across the way. |
| “The actual idea of putting a physical barrier between neighbours is a step back that both sides of the border would agree is not wanted,” he says. | “The actual idea of putting a physical barrier between neighbours is a step back that both sides of the border would agree is not wanted,” he says. |
| Proinsias Mag Fhionnghaile doesn’t accept the border between the two countries. “Why? Because it’s the same people, it’s all about people,” says the curator of Ballyshannon and District Museum. “We have suffered enough. I think you will see mass demonstrations on both sides if there is an attempt to put up a border with Brexit because Catholics, Protestants, whatever, will be totally against it,” says Mag Fhionnghaile. | Proinsias Mag Fhionnghaile doesn’t accept the border between the two countries. “Why? Because it’s the same people, it’s all about people,” says the curator of Ballyshannon and District Museum. “We have suffered enough. I think you will see mass demonstrations on both sides if there is an attempt to put up a border with Brexit because Catholics, Protestants, whatever, will be totally against it,” says Mag Fhionnghaile. |
| Michael McLoughlin was shaving when a bomb went off in Blacklion during the Troubles. “I thought it was a bit of iron coming off a tin roof,” says the retired businessman. “We were always very cautious and afraid during the Troubles. We couldn’t travel without fear on both sides. You didn’t know who was going to halt you, and when anyone came from Dublin they went back home as fast as lightning.” | Michael McLoughlin was shaving when a bomb went off in Blacklion during the Troubles. “I thought it was a bit of iron coming off a tin roof,” says the retired businessman. “We were always very cautious and afraid during the Troubles. We couldn’t travel without fear on both sides. You didn’t know who was going to halt you, and when anyone came from Dublin they went back home as fast as lightning.” |
| McLoughlin, who worked in the construction industry for 60 years, is critical of the lack of investment in the area and fears Brexit will cause difficulties for cross-border trade. “There is going to be no new investment in Blacklion. I think Brexit is going to have a serious impact on the border. You can’t trust an investment to invest money here because of the situation. | McLoughlin, who worked in the construction industry for 60 years, is critical of the lack of investment in the area and fears Brexit will cause difficulties for cross-border trade. “There is going to be no new investment in Blacklion. I think Brexit is going to have a serious impact on the border. You can’t trust an investment to invest money here because of the situation. |
| “When I was working I couldn’t cross into Northern Ireland; they were just keeping everything for themselves. Nothing ever happened over there from our side, from the 50s on. We could get no contracts but yet they could come in here and get any contract they wanted. | “When I was working I couldn’t cross into Northern Ireland; they were just keeping everything for themselves. Nothing ever happened over there from our side, from the 50s on. We could get no contracts but yet they could come in here and get any contract they wanted. |
| “There is nobody out there who wants to invest here. People don’t know what is happening in England, or what is happening in Northern Ireland. I was disappointed with the result of the referendum. It has left us feeling isolated again,” he says. | “There is nobody out there who wants to invest here. People don’t know what is happening in England, or what is happening in Northern Ireland. I was disappointed with the result of the referendum. It has left us feeling isolated again,” he says. |
| Rodney Edwards is an Irish Times journalist. This piece was produced as part of a week-long collaboration between the Guardian and the Irish Times on the impact of Brexit on Ireland. | Rodney Edwards is an Irish Times journalist. This piece was produced as part of a week-long collaboration between the Guardian and the Irish Times on the impact of Brexit on Ireland. |