Introduction

When the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought an end to decades of conflict, which was mainly focused on the existence of the Irish border, most breathed a sigh of relief. Then came Brexit. Border Ireland: From Partition to Brexit introduces readers to the Irish border. It considers the process of bordering after the partition of Ireland, to the Good Friday Agreement and attendant debordering to the post-Brexit landscape. The UK’s departure from the EU meant rebordering in some form. That departure also reinvigorated the push for a ‘united Ireland’ and borderlessness on the Island.

As well as providing a nuanced assessment that will be of interest to followers of UK/Irish relations and European studies, this book’s analysis of processes of bordering/debordering/rebordering helps inform our understanding of borders more generally. Students and scholars of European studies, border studies, politics, and international relations, as well as anyone else with a general interest in the Irish border will find this book an insightful and historically-grounded aid to contemporary events.