Stephen Collins: Brexit is no excuse for bashing the British

Brexit is the most compelling political drama of our age not only because the consequences will be with us for generations but because nobody knows what the next act in the coming weeks is going to bring us, never mind what the final scene will be.

Most political crises involve the fate of political parties or leading politicians and follow certain generally accepted rules of engagement which have little direct bearing on the lives of ordinary people, but the outcome of this one will affect the lives of more than 60 million people in a direct fashion.

It will also have a serious impact on the lives of people on both parts of this island and that is why it has absorbed so much attention from Irish politicians, officials and the media.

It is no harm to remember that twice since the beginning of this century the Irish people have voted down EU treaties on utterly spurious grounds

Some letter writers to this paper have bemoaned the sheer volume of the coverage but, given the overwhelming importance of the issue and the unpredictable nature of the outcome, it puts all other issues in the shade.

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The official Irish response to Brexit has been tough but professional with senior politicians and diplomats working to protect the national interest by getting cast-iron assurances on the avoidance of a hard border while also being mindful of the need to ensure the best possible trading arrangements between the European Union and the United Kingdom in the long term.

However, some of the commentary around Brexit has provided a pretext for a return to the kind of nasty British bashing that in the past helped to sour relations between the people of the two islands and the two communities in the North. Of course the decision of the British people to leave the EU was a short-sighted one, facilitated by unscrupulous politicians like Boris Johnson, but there is no escaping the fact that, for whatever reason, a majority voted to leave.

That’s democracy.

Spurious grounds

It is no harm to remember that twice since the beginning of this century the Irish people have voted down EU treaties on utterly spurious grounds. Given the positive image of the EU in this country, by contrast with the UK, and the clear economic benefits of membership, the No votes to the Nice and Lisbon treaties showed just how open electorates can be to manipulation.

Sneering at the foolishness of the British people and taking pleasure at the political contortions required of Theresa May and her ministers to make the best of a bad lot is not simply unneighbourly but potentially dangerous. Is the mirror image of the attitude of those in the UK who demonised the EU for so long.

We have always been very touchy in this country about the condescending attitude of some British politicians and commentators who struggle to understand our concerns. Now that the British are having what amounts to a political nervous breakdown, some of the sneering on this side of the Irish Sea is offensive as well as counter-productive.

At this stage it is strongly in the interests of the Irish people on both sides of the border that Theresa May can persuade the House of Commons to ratify the deal she has done with the EU. It appears very unlikely that she will be able to accomplish this on December 11th but the deal may well come back for a second vote shortly before or after Christmas.

There is an outside chance that the majority in the Commons who favour a continuing close relationship with the EU may prevail over the Tory ultras and the Labour hard-left and vote for a better alternative than the deal on offer, but a “crash out” hard Brexit is the more likely outcome if May does not prevail.

Ties of blood

It is important that good relations between Ireland and the UK are maintained whatever the ultimate Brexit deal. This is not simply as a matter of economic self-interest. The ties of blood, language and culture that exist between the two islands are too important for relations to be soured.

One of the great benefits of the Belfast Agreement was that, whatever about its failure to deliver a stable administration in Northern Ireland, it facilitated the flowering of truly close and friendly relations between the governments in Dublin and London.

This simply reflected the reality of the relations that already existed between the vast majority of Irish and English people. Just look at the two big sporting announcements of the past week. One was that the Irish soccer team will again be managed by Mick McCarthy, a tough Yorkshire man who played his heart out for Ireland on the field and managed the team that got to the World Cup finals in 2002.

The other was the announcement that English rugby league legend Andy Farrell, father of current English rugby union star Owen Farrell, will succeed Joe Schmidt as manager of the Irish rugby team.

McCarthy and Farrell, whose surnames leave no doubt about their ancestry, represent the intertwined relationship of the two islands. Hopefully they will bring honour and glory to this country in the years ahead and, with luck, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg will be relegated to the margins of history.