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Brexit Explained

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Brexit Explained

What Is the Problem with the Irish Border?

Channel 4 News,

5 min read
5 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Brexit has trapped the United Kingdom between a rock and a hard border.


Editorial Rating

8

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Recommendation

The “unsinkable” Titanic was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s modern-day capital city. Now HMS Brexit threatens to sink the nation. Britain’s Channel 4 News condenses a century of Anglo-Irish history in an effort to decipher the current political shipwreck to those seeking a brief, basic analysis of why Brexit talks have run aground. 

Summary

Northern Ireland, the smallest nation of the United Kingdom, is proving to be the main sticking point in Brexit negotiations. After Brexit, the borders between England, Scotland and Wales – the constituents of the island of Great Britain – will remain exactly the same. However, Northern Ireland, which shares a 300-mile [480 km] land border with the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union, is problematic. How should the nations manage goods crossing from the EU into Britain, and vice versa? The obvious solution would be to erect checkpoints, fences and border controls, but Northern Ireland has had unsavory experiences with such a hard border in the past...

About the Speaker

On air since 1982, Channel 4 News is the main news program on British television broadcaster Channel 4.


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