British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast
Photo: WPA Pool / Getty ImagesThe UK government is planning to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the partition of Ireland next year. This was announced by the seat of government Downing Street. "It is an opportunity to promote Northern Ireland as an attractive destination for traveling, investing and doing business," said a government release in London.
The Irish island was split in two in 1921 after a war that lasted more than two years with the independence of the later Republic of Ireland and the establishment of the British part of Northern Ireland. While the people in the Republic of Ireland are largely Catholic to this day, in Northern Ireland the Protestants were initially in the majority. In the meantime, the two denominations are roughly balanced there.
Previously systematically disadvantaged, Catholics in Northern Ireland have long been calling for unification with the Republic in the south. For three decades, the Catholic-Republican terrorist organization IRA tried to force the union by force. Protestant militant groups, the police and the British army hit back with great severity. The bloody civil war only ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement. But Northern Irish society is still deeply divided today.
"Obviously from my point of view it is a cause to celebrate because I love the alliance that the UK is made of"
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the plans for the celebration at a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on Thursday at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast. "From my point of view, it's obviously a good cause to celebrate because I love the alliance that makes up the United Kingdom, the most successful political partnership in the world," said Johnson. But of course he understands that there are "a lot of people who see things differently," said the prime minister.
The question of how the border between Northern Ireland and the EU member Ireland can remain open in the future despite the British leaving the EU has long been the most difficult sticking point in the Brexit talks. Johnson ultimately agreed to physical checks at the ports between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The implementation of this regulation is still pending.
Confusion was caused by the fact that the British prime minister repeatedly and publicly denied that there would be controls. Also on Thursday, he said there would only be a border in the Irish Sea above his body. However, he was expressly referring to the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, not the other way around.
Talks on a trade deal for the post-Brexit period are set to continue next week in Brussels. The negotiations so far had proven to be extremely tough.
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