2 2 July 2016
T
he spectre of strict border controls surfaced
during the UK referendum on membership of
the European Union (EU). Certainly, it was part
of the ‘Project Fear’ tactic of the Remain
campaign.
It has also struck a chord with many in communities
on the border.
However, this ignores the historical fact that controls
were at their tightest after 1973 when both states on
the island were members of the EU. For a generation
most traffic had to pass through about 20 fortified mili-
tary checkpoints on the border. Those passing through
usually had to produce identification. Long waits were
common. Prolonged and unpleasant
searches were also common, particu-
larly of young males whose names
indicated they were Catholic.
Small roads across the border were
open from 1922, long before either
state was in the EU. For a generation
after 1973, during EU membership, at
least 192 were closed. Farms were
divided, with farmers having to do
round journeys of up to 30 miles to
gain access to fields a hundred yards
away. Every single road on the Border between Leitrim
and Fermanagh was closed. Border towns were stran-
gled economically.
Kiltyclogher in Leitrim is half a mile from the
border. Historically, it was the market town for a large
part of West Fermanagh. However, the three roads lead-
ing into Fermanagh were closed, leaving the nearest
legal crossing a dozen miles away. Six of its eight pubs
have closed down the years. The population has fallen
by approximately 50% since the 1960s: it can no longer
support a GAA team, or the secondary school it once
had.
Clones in Co Monaghan was for a long time the
market town for much of South Fermanagh. Much of
that trade continued after partition. For a generation
after EU accession in 1973, five of eight roads into the
town were either blocked or had permanent military
checkpoints. As a result, in 20 years the population fell
by over 33%. There are at least a dozen closed busi-
nesses on its principal thoroughfare, Fermanagh
Street.
Counterintuitively, the pro-Brexit Democratic Union-
ist Party (DUP) has been strong in saying that free
movement of people across the border has to
continue.
Currency is another area where differences between
North and South have developed since EU accession.
Before 1979 there was currency union: it was possible
to use the same notes and coins from Bushmills to
Next: Nexit
Free movement of persons has
always been essential to fragile
border areas
by Anton McCabe
After 1973, during EU
membership, every road
on the Border between
Leitrim and Fermanagh
was closed. Border towns
were strangled.
NEWS
Kiltyclogher main street
"Take your entitlement"
July 2016 2 3
Baltimore. That changed after
1979. In border areas sterling and
euro notes, and frequently coins
also, are both accepted. That is
not the case further away. Moreo-
ver, there are great problems with
bank payments, with heavy charges
levied on cheques.
Another strengthening of division is
that since both states joined the EU, there
has been a reduction in free movement for
students, with fewer Northern students coming
South.
TCD historically educated significant number of
Northerners, most notably from Protestant back
-
grounds. Their numbers are greatly diminished. There
were only 160 Northerners there in the academic year
2014-5. UCD also used to attract many Northerners. Its
numbers have held slightly better, with 229 in 2014-5.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (IT) is approximately
four miles from Co Armagh, thus within walking dis-
tance for a fit student. On most recent figures, it only
had 17 Northern students. Letterkenny IT is only 17
miles from Co Tyrone. It only had eight Northern stu-
dents, according to the most recent figures.
Clearly, on some counts, division has thrived, even
without Brexit.
An element of moral panic surrounds the whole vote.
Certainly, there was a significant right-wing racist ele-
ment. However, what was most notable was the
exposure of the political elites as out of touch with
those they purport to represent.
In the North, the majority voted Remain. However,
being the North, there was a sectarian element to it.
Forty-four point two percent voted to leave the EU.
That indicates that a majority of Unionist voters fol-
lowed the DUP’s lead to do so. Seven of the North’s 18
constituencies, all majority Protestant, voted for Brexit.
However, North Down, the second most Protestant of
the North’s 18 constituencies, voted Remain. So did the
majority Protestant constituencies of North Belfast and
East Derry.
There were divisions, however. The majority of the
Ulster Unionist Party was pro-Remain. The two People
Before Profit Assembly members called for a Leave
vote, from a left-wing perspective. The annual Confer-
ence of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance
(NIPSA), the largest public-sector union, also voted in
support of withdrawal.
There was a significant Leave vote among the Catho-
lic community. Many were embarrassed to come out
publicly on this, given its perceived connections to
right-wing Unionism.
While the Sinn Féin leadership was enthusiastic, the
party base was much less so. This was another u-turn,
the Party having opposed membership and opposed
every previous referendum in the South. Significantly,
the electoral machine did not swing into action to mobi-
lise Remain support. Gerry Adams has referred to
voters who were driven by a traditional desire to gener-
ate difficulties for England.
In West Belfast, the imperative to vote is part of the
culture. This time, it had the lowest turnout in the UK,
at 48.9%. The constituency is 80% perceived Catholic,
and 25% voted leave.
From a constitutional point of view, the vote will not
have an immediate effect on the North. However, in the
long term it will. It has strengthened calls for Scottish
independence.
Scotland is a significant part of Unionist-Loyalist
identity. Not only did many come from Scotland during
the Plantations, but there has been movement before
and since. Presbyterianism is the largest Protestant
denomination. Scottish flags used to be common
around the 12th of July. There has been a growing inter-
est in Ulster-Scots culture.
On a day-to-day basis, Glasgow Rangers Football
Club was a major part of identity for many young
people. Before its implosion, and removal from the Pre-
miership, buses left every sizeable town in the North
for games every Saturday.
It now seems the momentum towards Scottish inde-
pendence will be unstoppable. The UK state will be at
an end. The effects on Northern Unionist-Loyalist iden-
tity are as yet unclear. It will certainly be changed.
Meanwhile, the result is throwing up paradoxes. Ian
Paisley Junior, known to Loyalists as ‘Baby Doc’, no
model of sage consistency, tweeted encouraging North-
erners to apply for Irish passports to keep EU
citizenship: “My advice is if you are entitled to a second
passport then take one”.
Ian Paisley
Junior advised
Unionists if
entitled to an
Irish passport
to take it
Majority leave
Majority remain
N

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