Brexit, Borders, and the Irish Backstop

As part of the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship’s (PETR) event series, Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, moderated a panel discussion on Brexit and its implications for Ireland featuring H.E. Daniel Mulhall, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America; Harriet Cross, British Consul General to New England; Dr. Katy Hayward, 2019 Eisenhower Fellow, Senior Fellow, ‘UK in a Changing Europe’ Initiative and Reader in Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast; and Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, Former Boston Police Commissioner and member of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland on May 6th, 2019.

They discussed peace, the Good Friday Agreement, security and trade for Ireland, in the context of the new October 31, 2019 deadline for Brexit.

During the discussion, both Ambassador Daniel Mulhall and British Consul General Harriet Cross agreed about the critical need to preserve the Good Friday Agreement and the importance of avoiding a hard border between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

“We stand by every single piece of the Good Friday Agreement,” said Harriet Cross, illustrating the UK government’s view.

Ambassador Mulhall also expressed his views on the current state of Europe and how the EU has shaped Ireland-UK relationships: “I don’t believe in ‘Philadelphia moments’ where the EU comes together and becomes the United States,” he said, “but support for the project is at a high.”

“The EU has improved Irish-British relations. On a lot of issues, Ireland and the UK were aligned when they sat at the table of European negotiations,” he said.