Everyone may remember where they were when they heard… but nobody knows where we’re going after eight years in the Brexit tourist wilderness.
At 4.39am on June 24, veteran broadcaster David Dimblebay declared on the BBC that the British people had voted to leave the European Union.
Only he would wait to distinguish that England and Wales had decided to leave while Scotland wanted to stay.
And while Dimblers had said Britain had opted to leave he neglected to mention that it was for the UK to decide.
The Irish Question
So that meant Northern Ireland as a member of the UK, but not in Britain, got to choose and they wanted to stay.
And this, of course, was almost totally ignored in the rush to scare Britons unreasonably about an invasion of Turks.
And the fact that Brexit would compromise the Good Friday peace agreement.
For there to be a soft border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Forward fast eight years of chaos where Northern Ireland’s people had to go without a government while their leaders squabbled.
In the Republic, meanwhile, where I was living it seemed a bit of a sideshow.
And the talk was, as it was for the centuries when the whole of Ireland was under British rule that its peril was Ireland’s opportunity.
Britain’s peril
Today in 2024 Dublin is the biggest English-speaking city in the European Union.
And subsequently the gateway for those who want to invest in the biggest single market in the world.
While there was, and continues to be, a stream of people with Irish background, and none, applying for an Irish passport.
Including, Daddy’s Little Girl, reared and educated through the Irish education system before relocating to Scotland.
And Where she immediately found herself denied freedom of movement in Europe.
And so she has compiled a small pile of documents including her Donegal granny’s birth and marriage certs.
She now expects to wait six months to receive her golden ticket… or in this case, the green passport with the harp on it.
Irish passport to redress
Now your Irish passport will grant you automatic rights to live, work and travel… and applies to the Northern Irish.
In the 31 countries of the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
While Scottish, English, Wales natives cannot.
With all of us needing to leave ourselves at times a couple of hours spare to stand in the naughty line at customs, say in Berlin.
While EU citizens walk right through.