Nearing a century in existence the Irish Border has become the defining feature of Ireland’s political geography. In drawing his boundary line, Robinson took local government boundaries as his operational unit: a method his undersecretary would later dismiss as unworkable. In drawing his line, Robinson factored in “the degrees of obstreperousness in the rival sectarian factions on the border line”. The stark reality of the Irish Border is that it was never intended to be in international boundary. The Irish Border has never been “softer” than it is at the present moment.

Source: The Irish Times February 11, 2019 12:22 UTC