Any warning of \u201cimminent potential disaster\u201d from a collective of civic bodies should give pause for thought. If such a warning comes from within a fragile post-conflict society, it should stop the government in its tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In early August, representatives from across Northern Ireland\u2019s civic society published a statement urging the prevention of a no-deal Brexit, which \u201cwould be hugely detrimental for Northern Ireland\u2019s economic, social, and political wellbeing and future.\u201d The list of supporting signatories includes leading organisations from across the region\u2019s business, commercial, trade union, farming and voluntary sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the devolved Stormont Executive and Assembly in abeyance over inter-party divisions, there is a strong feeling in Northern Ireland of being propelled towards a crisis without any ability to stop it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is an extraordinary situation: notoriously fractious civic society in Northern Ireland is now producing united calls with a singular voice imploring the British government not to <\/strong>wilfully put the region back in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The irony of it all is that the harm would arise as a result of a stand-off over the very thing designed to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland: the backstop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of people in Northern Ireland support the backstop. As Johnson and his cabinet appear determined to pay any price\u2014even no-deal\u2014for removing it, it is worth recalling exactly what it is intended to do and why it was seen as necessary to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Above all, the totemic significance of the Irish border must be understood. Trying to evaluate the problem in terms of relative trade value, for instance, is almost a category error. The history of conflict across these islands is literally drawn in the line of the Irish border. And the peace process has been predicated on reframing relationships defined by that border\u2014British\/Irish, North\/South on the island, Unionist\/Nationalist\u2014in terms of cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To continue reading, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Article originally appeared in Prospect Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0featured\u00a0image<\/a><\/em>\u00a0has been used courtesy of a\u00a0<\/em>Creative Commons license.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With Brexit day approaching and the risk of no deal contributing to a growing sense of crisis in Northern Ireland, Dr Katy Hayward argues that the backstop is needed to protect hard-won peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2478,"featured_media":5822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,41],"tags":[762,42,302,98,106,274],"class_list":["post-5818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conflict","category-europe","tag-backstop","tag-brexit","tag-conflict","tag-eu","tag-northern-ireland","tag-the-troubles"],"mb":[],"acf":{"authors":{"simple_value_formatted":"