It was always evident that a border in the Irish Sea without unionist consent would lead to renewed tension and conflict

Those of us who lived in Ireland through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s have had to learn some harsh lessons.

Even the cessation of violence, let alone peace, in Northern Ireland has been hard won at the cost of many lives lost and many ruinedlives.

Even the British Conservative and (so-called) Unionist Party has had time to learn lessons. Let me spell them out:

1. There must be equality between nationalists and unionists.

2. There must be equality between Catholics and Protestants.

One might have thought that these were lessons simple enough even for the Conservatives to understand.

But the Conservatives were unable even to accept the result of the European referendum of 23 June 2016, a decisive vote to leave in England by almost two million votes.

It was always evident that a border in the Irish Sea without unionist consent would lead to a renewal of tension and conflict.

And so indeed it has as the full practical implications of a border in the Irish Sea becomes increasingly clear.

Theresa May and Boris Johnson in their different ways have shown themselves to be unfit to be the prime minister of a United Kingdom that they have treated with disrespect.

If Ireland is to be reunited it must be by consent in accordance with the Good Friday agreement of 1998, not by a shabby political manoeuvre of the kind that transferred Monmouthshire from England to Wales in 1974.

The tragedy of Ireland since 1916 has by and large been the result of the incompetence and bad faith of the Conservative and Unionist Party.

Dr Gerald Morgan, Dublin

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