Readers' Blog: Get Bertie Ahern to be our Brexit negotiator
Running down the clock may be Theresa Mays’s policy but extending the clock, and running it down at the same time for the Irish Government, is the deliberate strategy of Fianna Fáil. For they well know, from recent experience, that the longer the present Government stays in power, the more likely they will become a risk to the economy or get the blame for a downturn, post-Brexit, etc.
This will have implications at the next general election, a transfer of votes to Fianna Fáil. Already the Fine Gael-led coalition is making the very same mistakes as Fianna Fáil, e.g., in the construction industry with the overrun on the National Children’s Hospital, and yielding to unions on pay. The impending unrest with civil servants, nurses, teachers etc over pay deals suits Fianna Fáil who continue to sit on the fence.
The House of Commons Brexit committee met Bertie Ahern in London and asked if he could be the go-between, representing the Irish State in coming to a solution on the withdrawal agreement with the UK, in the Brexit talks and said that would not suit the Government or ...”god forbid” would be their answer.
Fine Gael have already said they didn’t want to contaminate themselves by yielding to the UK on the backstop issue. So in the end game, it might well be the solution to let Bertie Ahern be the chief negotiator representing all the wishes of the people on this Island —north and south. After all, he did so conclusively with the Belfast agreement to his credit, so why not let Bertie be the peace broker again. What we need now is to instil confidence in the latter stage, and there’s no one near him on either side of the fence, on his level with that factor.
Finally, it would send a signal to the EU team fg Tusk and Barnier that we are capable of pulling off a deal without them and that the UK are still our close neighbours.
