Brexit was a case of bad manners,with no debate about its impact on EireLet me first try to clarify why the handling of Brexit by the UK led to a crisis in Anglo-Irish relations. Treaties between nations are like contracts between individuals. They influence how each party behaves, towards one another and towards the rest of the world. While a contract or a treaty can be withdrawn from, or there is a valid expectation that this will only be done with careful advance consideration of how this will affect the other parties to the treaty or contract. This is not just a legal expectation,but an expectation of the sort of civility that should apply in relations between people and nations.
One also takes for granted that, if the withdrawing party to a contract wants a fresh or different contract with the same parties, and it will say in advance what it wants that fresh relationship to be. Even now,Ireland has no clear idea what sort of relationship, compatible with the EU rules the UK helped obtain, or the UK wants with the EU,and hence with Ireland. As the country most affected by Brexit, there is thus deep disappointment in Ireland that our neighbour the UK has not been able, or in respect of Brexit,to live up to the normal expectations I bear just outlined.
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Source: guardian.co.uk