No deal off the table now?

[original PM]

Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: Well Humphrey, we've got to leave the EU. I think that means we are in now but we will have to be outside.
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: So now we have borders with non-EU countries but not EU countries.
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: So what will happen is we'll now have borders with the EU because we have decided to be a non-EU country?
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: Well that seems straightfoward, Humphrey.
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: Well Humphrey, is there anything I should know?
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: What?
Sir Humphrey Original: Well Minister, the Good Friday Agreement says we can't have borders between us and Ireland.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: So, we only have two choices: 1) we stay in the EU or 2) Ireland comes out with us?
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: I guess we can totally forget Ireland moving?
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: So that only leaves us with Option 1?
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.
Rt Hon Sean McPosterBoy: Oh that's easy then: we'll just tell the EU we are staying in after all. Only obviously we are leaving at the same time.
Sir Humphrey Original: Yes Minister.

The Good Friday agreement is now 20 years old - so possibly needs to be reviewed.

Also am I missing something - are there still troubles in Ireland - are they still fighting the UK?

[Old Greg]

The Good Friday agreement is now 20 years old - so possibly needs to be reviewed.

Also am I missing something - are there still troubles in Ireland - are they still fighting the UK?

By all means review it with other interested parties, but in the meantime the UK is legally committed to maintaining an open border, hence the backstop.

[Cirrus]

Also am I missing something - are there still troubles in Ireland - are they still fighting the UK?

Well, I may be wrong but, I kind of thought the lack of troubles was the point of the GFA...

[Old Greg]

Well, I may be wrong but, I kind of thought the lack of troubles was the point of the GFA...

I have solved problem A with intervention B. I can now remove intervention B. Works for some things and not for others. In this case, it's doesn't work.

[original PM]

But we have evidently not solved problem A have we?

For me we should go back and see if after 20 years there has been a change

However if there is still hatred for the British and a they wish for a return to arms what options do we have?

[Old Greg]

But we have evidently not solved problem A have we?

For me we should go back and see if after 20 years there has been a change

However if there is still hatred for the British and a they wish for a return to arms what options do we have?

Keep the GFA in place, according to the UK's international commitments.

[original PM]

Keep the GFA in place, according to the UK's international commitments.

For how long - 50 years?

100 years?

At what point are we going to stop pandering to pointless old man who want to walk down somebody else's road wearing colours just to piss other people off?

History of Ireland - Wikipedia

[Old Greg]

For how long - 50 years?

100 years?

At what point are we going to stop pandering to pointless old man who want to walk down somebody else's road wearing colours just to piss other people off?

History of Ireland - Wikipedia

Then the UK should negotiate a better solution to make sense of the fact that there are six counties in the North of the island of Ireland which are a part of the UK, but where a substantial minority consider themselves Irish and not British.

But none of this is a reason to unilaterally walk away from the UK's legal commitments in two months' time.

[original PM]

Then the UK should negotiate a better solution to make sense of the fact that there are six counties in the North of the island of Ireland which are a part of the UK, but where a substantial minority consider themselves Irish and not British.

But none of this is a reason to unilaterally walk away from the UK's legal commitments in two months' time.

Not saying we should walk away from it - but it does not seem we have 'solved' any problems we have just kicked them down the road.

But from what I gather - no one wants a hard border, and the GFA says we cannot have a hard border

But it seems that we need a hard border?

or do we?

[meridian]

Not saying we should walk away from it - but it does not seem we have 'solved' any problems we have just kicked them down the road.

???

Compare the deaths from terrorism in the UK in the 20 years pre-1998, to the deaths in the 20 years after. And them come back on and say that it hasn't solved any problems.