Tánaiste, Simon Coveney, says we're all in trouble if the new British prime minister wants to rip up the EU withdrawal agreement.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Simon Coveney, said asking Ireland to concede on the backstop is a threat to peace on the island of Ireland.
He also says the EU will not change the approach of the last three years which has involved compromise on all sides.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney on a no deal #Brexit: “If a new British prime minister chooses to take Britain in that direction then it will happen. This is a British choice… We have a deal” #Marr https://t.co/t0MDV6PLe6 pic.twitter.com/LYleZZHNPM
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 21, 2019
He said Ireland’s one and only red line throughout the process has been that “nothing should be done to put at risk peace on the island of Ireland.”
The article notes that the Irish and British Governments are obliged to protect the Good Friday Agreement as it co-guarantors. The minister said the UK honoured that responsibility by negotiating the backstop and the incoming UK leader must follow through on that commitment.
“If Britain decides to leave without a deal it would cause huge damage to us all,” he wrote.
“Clearly Northern Ireland is more at risk from a no deal Brexit than any other part of these islands.
“It is a unique place where people have a birthright to identify themselves as British or Irish or both.
“Its people did not vote for Brexit. A no deal Brexit will devastate the Northern Irish economy with tariffs and rules that will fundamentally disrupt the all-island economy upon which so much has been built.”
