Everywhere I went, people whose views were less entrenched asked the same set of questions. If the UK leaves the EU with no deal, and Northern Ireland and the Republic are suddenly separated by tariffs and new regulations, would that mean the return of what official-speak calls “border infrastructure”? If it did, wouldn’t that give people spoiling for a fight something to shoot at, or blow up? Whatever the prime minister’s current contortions, what if Brexit – even with a deal – and the Ireland envisaged by the Good Friday agreement turn out to be mutually exclusive?
• This article was amended on 14 February 2019 to remove a reference to the UK leaving “Europe”; this has been changed to “the EU”.