The Irish border: a sticking point in the Brexit negotiations. A linguistic and political study

The thorny issue of the Irish border, often referred to as the ‘Irish backstop’, was a key reason why an agreement was never reached on Theresa May’s watch. Boris Johnson downplayed the gamut of different regional views across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, thus silencing the question of Scotland and Ireland, where Remain was by far the preferred choice. He wanted to leave the EU at any cost, “no ifs no buts”, “come what may”, do or die”, also at the cost of having a “disunited Kingdom”, thus foreseeing a divorce of Scotland from the rest of the UK, as well as a divorce of Northern Ireland, to unite the island under Dublin. It seems that the Irish border was not a huge dilemma for Boris Johnson who was not too concerned of leaving the Kingdom in pieces. It has been argued that, rather than Brexit, the departure of the UK from the EU should have been referred to as ‘Engxit’, as it was England, with the exception of London, that voted to leave the EU, not all of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, in particular, voted to remain in the EU by a majority of 56% to 44%. The purpose of the Windsor Framework, signed in February 2023 by Rishi Sunak, avoiding checks taking place at the sensitive land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, is to end years of dispute and division, thus beginning a new chapter in the relationship. Notably, Brexit, i.e. a hard north-south customs control, risked upsetting the peace process reached with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. With its green lanes and red lanes, the Windsor Framework is to be regarded as an acceptable compromise, as a due act towards the British people and as an act of loyalty towards the people of Northern Ireland, who need and deserve their power-sharing government to be up and running again.