Irish Boarder: May needs end her colonial imagery.

The authors of 1066 and All That was a hugely successful parody of school history textbooks first published serially in Punch but later in book form in 1930 authors were W. C. Sellar (1898–1951) and R. J. Yeatman (1897–1968),  some how summed up the British attitude to Ireland over 80 years ago

The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were at this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish (Picts) out of Scotland; while the Picts (originally Scots) were now Irish (living in brackets) and vice versa. It is essential to keep these distinctions clearly in mind (and verce visa).

• Chapter 2

Gladstone...spent his declining years trying to guess the answer to the Irish Question; unfortunately, whenever he was getting warm, the Irish secretly changed the Question[.]

• Chapter 57.

Of course its not so much the the Irish secretly changing  the Question, but Westminster drfining the question in its own imperialistic and colonists  terms.

Only a few weeks ago the Secretary of State has said she initially did not understand that nationalists did not vote for unionist parties during elections.

Karen Bradley said she did not comprehend that campaigns are generally fought within each part of the community.

She told The House magazine that it was "a very different world from the world I came from".

Mrs Bradley was appointed in January to replace James Brokenshire.

"I didn't understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland - people who are nationalists don't vote for unionist parties and vice-versa," Mrs Bradley told House magazine, a weekly publication for the Houses of Parliament."So, the parties fight for election within their own community.
"Actually, the unionist parties fight the elections against each other in unionist communities and nationalists in nationalist communities," she added.

Such an admission of ignorance could possibly be seen as refreshing but as it comes at a time when the Irish Boarder comes to prominence during Brexit negotiations it begs the question  Does the UK goverment really recognise that the Republic of Ireland is now an Independent country and not the equivalent of a child who has left the  family home , where the matriarch believes he or she should still obey house rules and her influence?

Indeed as Britain walks out of the EU club one suspects they looked over their shoulder expecting Ireland to follow behind them.


But Ireland didn't and not only that has grown up and made many new friends who stand behind her as Mrs May thinks she can bully Ireland and are shocked to find that Taoiseach

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has the audacity to regard himself as her equal, and 

Mr Varadkar said he won’t accept the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit even if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal on its future relationship with the bloc.

Varadkar said he couldn’t countenance the re-emergence of border infrastructure and checks between the south and north of Ireland following Brexit.

Leo

Varadka

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

“The UK has said they won’t do it,” Varadkar said i“And I’ve made it very clear to other European prime ministers and presidents that’s something Ireland will never do.

 “There is a small possibility that we could end up with no deal in October, and therefore a hard Brexit next March,” he said, adding he was still “very confident” of an accord in October,“But in a ‘no deal’ scenario, at least until there is a deal - and sooner or later there will have to be a deal - we won’t be installing a hard border between the island of Ireland and everyone knows that,”

 Varadkar raised the possibility that EU leaders could schedule extra meetings in September, October or November in an effort to seal an accord with Britain.

“But you’ll know that there are a number of different scenarios that could arise if we’re in a ‘no deal’ situation. For example, it is possible to extend Article 50, to allow more time for negotiations to take place,” he said. “There is the possibility of an interim deal, or a transition period, pending an outcome or final negotiations around the transition period.”

What ever your views over Brexit. it would be helpful if Westminster began regarding the Rpublic of Ireland in the same way , they would any other Independent nation and not as they clearly do of a former colony that they still believe they can somehow still control.