Scholar on New 'Irish Civil War' Remark: 'Le Pen Exaggerating the Situation'

Sputnik has discussed the statement with Dr Roslyn Fuller, Director of the Solonian Democracy Institute based in Dublin and the author of the book Beasts and Gods: How Democracy Changed Its Meaning and Lost Its Purpose.

Sputnik: What is your specific take now on Marine Le Pen's recent statement regarding the Ireland situation? Do you think there is any truth to what she is saying?

Roslyn Fuller: I think she is definitely exaggerating the situation and going a bit far. For those of us living in Ireland, the European Union for a long time kind of deflated the situation because, of course, the border seemed more or less relevant for the last twenty years. And that put a kind of a blanket on the entire situation without, however, and this is a crucial bit but coming to the fore without actually resolving it.

So, we have kind of been for a long time waiting for this long plan for there to eventually be a referendum on reunification but it is something that has sort of been, something that has not really been seen as urgent, definitely not in the Republic of Ireland, where I live. So I don't think the European Union is seeking to utilise the situation to re-ignite violence. I just think that the situation itself was never resolved.

And therefore now that Brexit is seeming more and more real, we are kind of confronted with the fact that that situation was always kind of an open, you know, kind of an open box that was put on the long finger to wait for a resolution at some undetermined point in the future. So and now it has become urgent all of a sudden again.

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Sputnik: Well, it does appear that Marine Le Pen statements, however divisive, seem to be stoking the fires. Do they correspond with the opinion of the right-wing in the UK? Do you really think that Marine Le Pen really gave thought to what issues she was saying or is she absolutely on the money?

Roslyn Fuller: I think she is trying to be controversial. If people in the right-wing agree with her, I don't know, I mean obviously in the Republic of Ireland we have a very different perspective on that. I think she is trying to be kind of controversial.

I mean it is a big issue. It is an issue that probably didn't get the attention that it should have had earlier on in this process of Brexit. But I think she is just kind of trying to be controversial and stoke the fires because I don't see it as something that EU is causing, I just see a situation that exists as something as difficult. You could also argue that it has been caused by the fact that the UK is seeking to exit the EU without really from their side trying to resolve this situation constructively.

So it is really, it is all sides involved, in Ireland, we are kind of feeling a little bit like a football being kicked around from side to side because we are caught in the middle of this situation between two larger powers that are having obviously great difficulty in coming to a resolution on this point. And we are kind of stuck in the middle of that.

Sputnik: Let's talk about the backstop then and whether the backstop deal you think is physically implementable? What is your take on the backstop?

Roslyn Fuller: Yes, well they don't seem to have made a big effort to implement that infrastructure anytime soon. Of course, to some extent goods can be transported more unhindered that is true but you can't do that 100 percent because you have to have some kind of enforcement. You know you have to have some kind of checking on that, otherwise it becomes useless.

And the other thing is, of course, people moving back and forth. I mean that is probably the main issue actually and actually, the main issue for us as well as, you know, checking people moving back and for the across that border, even more so than goods. So I don't think we are going to all be giving some kind of ID implant, you know,  or something in the near future. So I think that still remains highly problematic.

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I mean as long as the UK is completely regulatory aligned with the EU then I suppose things can carry on if that remains the case. I mean the problem is obviously if they don't want to and the moment that diverges then we have an issue.

So I think that you know, giving this more time to divorce more slowly is, obviously a good idea. But at the end of the day, you are enforcing your border, you are checking your goods, you are checking people, you are controlling that or you are not.

And I don't think that is something that at this point can be a 100 percent a technological solution. It might be something where the border is slightly less obvious than it otherwise would be without those things, but it's not going be able to completely go away in the near future, I think.

Views and opinions, expressed in the article are those of Roslyn Fuller and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik