Irish border latest -- dark arts revealed

The Gurdnian reveals a campaign by the Irish Republic to weaponise the border.Naturally, this is 'good', and it also shows how unprepared the Brits were. We now need a response from the useful idiots (and Blair and Campbell) who claimed all along to be interested only in peace and reconciliation, the Good Friday agreement, that nice taoiseach and all that.

Ireland was streets ahead of the UK when it came to planning for Britain’s exit

...with a starring role, the backstop....The Irish government persuaded the EU to make the backstop a condition of the UK’s withdrawal....Both sides agree that Dublin outplayed its former colonial master....The story of the backstop is not of a flawlessly executed Celtic masterplan, however. Dublin conceived it fitfully and gradually in response to British contradictions and missteps. But once crystallised as a goal, the Irish pursued it hell for leather....“The border came up at every meeting,”...After the shock of the no vote sunk in, Kenny quickly assembled a team of almost 100 people to work on Brexit. He beefed up embassies across EU capitals to convey a stark message: the border was not just about protecting the single market, it was about peace....Despite their forebodings, the referendum result shocked Irish officials. They had hoped to shelve the contingency plans....

The Irish initially hoped bilateral talks could find a way to keep the border frictionless....[but the Irish and Juncker]...were beginning to realise that only a political solution – specifically, regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the EU – could avert a hard border. This was the genesis of the backstop...In Brussels and Dublin it was decided that the UK now “had to own” the border issue....This was about the customs union and the single market....The Irish goal was to get the border into a legally binding withdrawal agreement – Dublin’s point of maximum leverage – rather than future trade relations, when Dublin would struggle to be heard....Ireland was a midget with a big advantage: British ineptitude.... The new taoiseach wanted a “win”, said one Fine Gael party colleague, and squeezing the Brits proved popular. 

Some had a personal stake in the backstop. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, used to be a commissioner who ran peace programmes in Northern Ireland. Baltic states with an eye on Russia appreciated the bloc supporting a minnow against a heavyweight....It is a great feat for Irish diplomacy.