Opinion

Deaglán de Bréadún: The Good Friday Agreement makes the backstop look relatively straightforward

Theresa May has been accused of acting in bad faith over the Brexit backstop<br />&nbsp;
Theresa May has been accused of acting in bad faith over the Brexit backstop
 
Theresa May has been accused of acting in bad faith over the Brexit backstop
 

Looking back on my reporting of the final stages in those crucial inter-party talks at Stormont in April 1998, I found a reference to the “relatively-relaxed” mood whereby a group including delegates from the Ulster Unionist Party, SDLP, Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition and even, on the fringe, an unnamed Sinn Féin member, were described as watching an episode of the TV comedy series Father Ted, in Castle Buildings.

There would be little comfort in such an exercise for participants in the current Brexit imbroglio, because at times it is so farcical that it makes Father Ted look like a sombre documentary. Instead of the Good Friday Agreement we have what might be called the “Bad Friday Agreement” whereby the United Kingdom is currently scheduled to withdraw from the European Union on the last Friday in March.

A witty friend of mine, when someone asked how he was getting on, used to reply: “I’m like the census – broken down by age, sex and religion.” The dear man is sadly no longer with us, but if he were still around he would be further broken down by the endless debate, discussion and speculation about Brexit. Personally I am approaching the stage where I might inadvertently order “Brexit” instead of breakfast, at a restaurant one of these mornings. And if I were asked to name my favourite Audrey Hepburn movie, I could end up saying Brexit at Tiffany’s instead of “Breakfast”.

But now there is yet another word starting to expropriate our brains. I refer, of course, to “backstop”. This started out as a well-intentioned device to prevent the return of a hard border in Ireland but now threatens to precipitate a no-deal Brexit whereby the UK would crash out of the EU with highly-challenging consequences that might very well include a hard border. We can disagree as to whether Brexit is a good or bad idea but few sensible people would dispute that, given the close links between the UK and the EU over the years, there needs to be a well-ordered and amicable parting rather than a messy divorce.

Turning back to Good Friday, some key figures in the process at Castle Buildings were very surprised when a deal was finally concluded. There is a similar mood of pessimism over the prospect of a smooth UK withdrawal on March 29. The hellfire and brimstone attitude adopted by European Council President, Donald Tusk, recalled the tone adopted by the Rev Ian Paisley, who led his supporters up to Stormont on April 9, 1998 in a last-minute attempt to block the agreement.

When you think of the range of issues that was agreed on that occasion, as well as a can or two that had to be kicked strategically down the road, it makes the backstop look relatively straightforward. Think about it: the new 108-member Assembly, the North-South Ministerial Council, the 12-member power-sharing Executive, the repeal of the UK’s Government of Ireland Act, the Council of the Isles, softening the claim to the north in the southern constitution, etc.

Then think of the participants who were either sitting at the table or watching carefully from the wings. The IRA army council and the loyalist paramilitaries were surely more formidable outfits than the European Research Group of the British Conservative Party. And the late Mo Mowlam would have had little patience with Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

The important point in any successful negotiation is that there has to be a willingness to compromise on the different sides. Based on most of their public utterances, that commodity seems rather scarce among those who are meant to be dealing with the backstop issue. Theresa May has had to change her tune in the face of an overwhelming Commons majority; Brussels doesn’t want to give the British an easy departure for fear that other member-states will follow suit; the government in Dublin can’t be seen to fold under pressure from “the Brits”.

The challenge for the politicians in all three camps is to display courage without engaging in political self-destruction. The big game is being played out in the House of Commons but Dublin and Brussels need to lend a helping hand, not especially out of charity and solidarity towards Theresa May but for the common good.

The backstop issue is like the drum in an Orange march: useful for keeping the members in line. But a crash-out Brexit threatens just about everybody on this island and that’s why some serious creative thinking is required – and soon.

Someone needs to produce the Father Ted placard that says, “Down with this sort of thing.” Otherwise we’ll end up in the economic equivalent of the condemned cell where all we can do is eat a hearty Brexit – I mean breakfast!

Ddebre1@aol.com