Let’s remake a deal: Brexit and Northern Ireland (again)
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Since Brexit’s earliest days, the trade status of Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland have been a perilous sticking point. We examine a deal that might—and should—resolve matters at last. Our correspondent looks at all the plush office space being converted into family homes. And an obituary for the ruined city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. |
| 0:07.0 | Today from London, I'm your host Jason Palmer. |
| 0:10.3 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:18.1 | From early in the coronavirus pandemic, we've considered what might happen with all that |
| 0:22.8 | premium real estate dedicated to offices no longer being fully utilized. |
| 0:28.2 | The answer is becoming clear. |
| 0:30.3 | Plenty of it is being converted into family homes. |
| 0:34.7 | And our obituaries editor almost always focuses on notable people. |
| 0:39.5 | Today she reflects instead on a notable city, Bachmout in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. |
| 0:46.0 | Since August it's been the focus of relentless bombardment. |
| 0:49.6 | By now it is a wasteland. |
| 0:55.7 | But first… |
| 1:04.4 | It feels like we've talked a lot on the show about Brexit. |
| 1:08.4 | Dates and deadlines and deals and quite a lot of bad blood. |
| 1:13.1 | But since Britain finally formally left the EU two years ago, one thing just kept coming |
| 1:18.6 | up. |
| 1:19.6 | The border between Northern Ireland, which is in the United Kingdom and the Republic of |
| 1:23.5 | Ireland, which is in the European Union, it's complicated, not just for reasons of paper |
| 1:29.5 | work, as goods cross from one customs area to another. |
| 1:33.5 | That border or the lack of a noticeable border is a really delicate matter for peace on |
| 1:39.2 | the island of Ireland. |
| 1:41.6 | And now it's back in the news, because after much hand-ringing there might finally be |
... |
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