Reshaping UK/Ireland relations: Brexit’s cross-border and bilateral impact

Abstract

Abstract This article considers the implications of Brexit for UK–Irish relations. It examines how Brexit has altered the terms of the British–Irish relationship by considering the impact on bilateral and cross-border economic and trade patterns. The article focuses on two primary economic effects. First, the short-term impact of Brexit and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol on the Northern Ireland economy, and on trade relations between Great Britain and Ireland and across the Irish border; and second, how Brexit has spurred a discussion about the (economic) appropriateness of partition on the island of Ireland in the post-Brexit period, the extent to which it has led to increased calls for a border poll, and how any future unification process might be economically managed. This includes some provisional evaluation of the economic costs and challenges in relation to future constitutional change for the island of Ireland and the UK. The discussion here connects with wider British constitutional issues including calls for Scottish independence and the possible break-up of the UK.