Thread by @SaraTempler

Soaking up some very sobering info this afternoon at 'The Future of UK #Borders after #Brexit' organised by the indefatigable @hayward_katy in assoc w/ @UKandEU, @FortinusGlobal, @ShankerASingham. Invaluable research & policy engagement - nice work @QUBEngagement #Impact

Hayward poses key qs for us in NI in these precarious times - neither of which glean clear answer: (1) what opportunities does #Brexit offer NI? (2) what cost is British Govt prepared to incur for #Brexit - when polls indicate maj GB indifference to hard border,collapse of peace?

Personal opinion incoming:
I’ve previously said I think #Brexit is a moral, ethical, economic, social, & cultural crisis. I generally refrain from nailing my political colours to the post publicly, but the seriousness of the negative impacts of this ‘project’ are exceptional...

In the Q&A at this event someone asked why we are not hearing more abt the importance of #GFA in the public debate on #Brexit [notable exceptions: the excellent contributions by @hayward_katy, @DPhinnemore, @fotoole, @DerryGirlsAB - also @SDLPlive, @allianceparty].

Point is: #Brexit as projected by Great Britain & the DUP flies in the face of the moral, pragmatic duty we have as a society to protect, embrace, & embed the hard-won peace of the #GFA.

It’s not news that the #DUP rejected the #GFA. However it should cause all of us deep, deep concern that their support of Govt’s #Brexit ‘strategy’ begs the question ‘what cost is Govt prepared to stomach, for the sake of #Brexit?’

While Govt studiously avoids facts & evidence in this ‘debate’, I’m among many people here currently working on our responses to the @NIOgov #Legacy Consultation. 20 years after #GFA we are considering options for dealing with ‘the past’: the conflict in & about Northern Ireland.

A prevailing view is that ‘the past’ *is not the past*: what happened is part of who we are, how we are, how we connect & relate to one another, what we live in the here & now.

There were bombs. Refugees. Guns. Death. More than 3,700 real people died. Life-changing injuries. More than 47,000 real people were injured. Refugees. Secrets. Silence. Lies. HERE. RIGHT HERE.

Today, 20 years after the #GFA, we are just beginning to square up to the importance of unpicking this tangle of destruction, & pain, & fear, & sorrow, & loss, & rage, & trauma, & dependence, & family breakdown, & crises of institutional credibility, &… &… &…

Why should we do this?
For our children. To tell them honestly that it was awful, has been awful. To show them how we might resolve the mess & pain & restore trust. To help them ensure they never have to endure such horror.

The border is a neuralgic touchpoint in this landscape. It is an insult to humanity that Govt should treat it as anything less.

It is also an insult to the hard, constructive work of so many – including civil servants toiling at the current #Legacy Consultation – that these connections are not acknowledged.