The Observer
News 25.08.19 9ABOVE
Army disposal
experts at the
bomb scene in
Co Fermanagh
on Monday.
Photopress
Belfast
LEFT
The DUP leader
Arlene Foster
stands near the
explosion site,
yards from the
Irish border.
Photopress
Belfast
At the village entrance there
is a tricolour and a sign:
‘Hard border? Soft border?
No border! Irish unity now’
300-mile border with the Republic of
Ireland.
That prospect inspires dread, anger
and confusion in Newtownbutler. At
the entrance to the village there is an
Irish tricolour and a sign showing a
map of Ireland with barbed wire sep-
arating north and south. “Hard bor-
der? Soft border? No border! Irish
unity now.”
The partition of Ireland in 1921 left
many in the predominantly national-
ist village feeling trapped in an alien
state. That sentiment ebbed thanks
to the 1998 Good Friday agreement
and the European single market. Irish
identity was recognised and the bor-
der blurred.
But the Good Friday agreement
is hollowing. Power sharing at
Stormont between Sinn Féin and the
Democratic Unionist party (DUP) col-
lapsed in 2017. Northern Ireland has
been adrift with no government for
almost 1,000 days.
Instead of reconciliation, there is
rancour and polarisation: mobs clash
with police over parades and bonfi res,
while politicians wrangle over par-
amilitary displays and Troubles-era
killings.
Now Brexit – which most Northern
Ireland voters rejected in the 2016 ref-
erendum – risks reviving the border.
“The fi rst customs man who puts
his head up, he’s gone. Won’t last the
night,” predicted one elderly repub-
lican in Newtownbutler, who with-
held his name. He had crossed the
invisible frontier from his home inCounty Monaghan, a few miles down
the road, for a haircut.
Terry Greene, 66, warming a bar
stool in Mulligan’s, was emphatic
about the impact of a hard border. “I
know for a fact the violence will come
back,” he said. The prospect so riled
him he endorsed the bomb. “It was
a great job. But I’m glad nobody was
killed.” Other residents condemned
the attack. “A bomb like that, you
could be taking someone’s life, which
is wrong,” said Martin Taggart, 65.
“They’ll face their maker in heaven if
He’s up there.”
Emma Gillan, 62, shook her head.
A return to violence and a physical,
manifest border made no sense, she
said. “I’m scared. It’s scary.”
Dissident republicans who reject
the peace process mounted attacks
before Brexit and Stormont’s collapse,
killing several members of the secu-
rity forces. A backstop and restored
devolution will not satisfy them. But
they see Brexit as a historic opportu-
nity to gain traction.
After previous attacks, Sinn Féin
and the DUP set aside their differ-
ences to show solidarity – to show
that politics can bridge differences.
Not this time.
DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn
Féin MP Michelle Gildernew , who
both represent Fermanagh and South
Tyrone , appeared in a joint BBC inter-
view near the bomb scene. The broad-
cast unravelled when they started
arguing over the Troubles-era bor-
der. Foster rolled her eyes. Gildernew
fumed.
“If senior politicians from the two
parties can’t get along together for a
few minutes during a live broadcast
in the wake of an attack which could
have claimed lives, how on earth
are they going to govern Northern
Ireland?” asked the Belfast Telegraph.No deal will ‘instantly
disrupt’ the UK’s role
as global data hub
A no-deal Brexit would seriously dis-
rupt the free fl ow of commercially
valuable data between Europe and
the UK, leaving companies across
the finance, hospitality, manufac-
turing and technology sectors fac-
ing “immense” extra costs, according
to a new study by University College
London.
The report, to be published this
week, says potential problems post-
Brexit with data transfers have
received “minimal attention” in the
debate over the UK’s exit from the EU,
but could turn out to be as serious to
the economy as more visible issues
relating to cross-border trade.
The study says that even if there
were a Brexit deal, new rules on data
transfers between organisations in
the EU and the UK – currently gov-
erned by EU law – could prove hugely
diffi cult to renegotiate bilaterally. But
if there is no deal, the study warns
there will be immediate and serious
economic repercussions. “No tran-
sitional period would entail signif-
icant legal, economic, political and
social disruption in the UK,” the
report says. “The UK would imme-
diately become a third country in EU
law, and instant disruption to EU-UK
data fl ows would ensue.”
One of the report’s authors, Oliver
Patel of UCL’s European Institute ,
said a typical example would be prob-lems for a UK-based hotel company
which can currently receive data from
EU countries about customers using
its hotels on the continent – valuable
for commercial reasons, including to
target people for promotions.
The Confederation of British
Industry (CBI) cited another potential
example, in which a UK conference
centre could lose bookings from EU
companies that would be in breach
of personal data rules after Brexit if
they sent attendees’ data outside the
EU without contractual safeguards.
Without a special dispensation
from the EU after Brexit, called an
“adequacy agreement”, fi rms receiv-
ing data from the EU could fi nd them-
selves facing huge extra legal bills to
ensure compliance. The UCL study
says: “This requires companies to
direct immense costs and resources
towards enabling [previously unre-
stricted] data transfers.”
The UK currently has the largest
data centre market in Europe. More
than 75% of UK data transfers are with
EU countries.
Felicity Burch, the CBI’s director of
digital and innovation, said: “A no-
deal Brexit endangers UK’s position
as a global hub for data fl ows. From
day one, the free fl ow of data that
underpins every sector from auto-
motive to logistics will be hit.
“Businesses have already under-
taken costly legal processes and some
are investing in EU data centres. An
adequacy agreement must remain a
priority for government or the UK’s
£174bn data economy is at risk.’Toby Helm
Political EditorDigital economy
ON
OTHER
PAGESExasperation
and regret as
Europe tries
to deal with
Brexit
Jeremy Cliff e,
Comment,
page 45‘We must not
switch off
from the
grim truth’
William
Keegan,
Business,
page 57A quarter of UK voters have started
taking precautions against the
adverse consequences of a no-deal
Brexit, including stockpiling food, toi-
letries and medicines, according to a
new Opinium/Observer poll.
The survey was taken after leaks of
offi cial documents showed concerns
within Whitehall about the effects of
no deal on the supply of food, medi-
cines and other items.
Among those who had taken action,
9% said they had begun stockpiling
goods, 8% said that they had delayed
major purchases and 7% said they had
altered travel plans. Among people
who said they had begun stockpiling
57% said they bought extra tinned food,
45% extra medicines, 38% more toilet-
ries and 30% additional toilet paper.
The survey found Tory supportershad taken least action, with 80% say-
ing they had done nothing. Some 63%
of Labour backers said they had not
acted, and 60% of Lib Dems had also
done nothing.
The poll shows that the public
believes a no-deal on 31 October is
now the most likely outcome. Some
37% of all voters say they believe there
will not be a deal, against 22% who say
they think Brexit will be delayed so
the country can hold a general elec-
tion or another referendum.
Some 40% of voters think that no
deal will be bad for the economy,
against 29% who think it will be a
good thing for the national fi nances.
Overall the Conservatives have
opened up a six-point lead over
Labour, gaining one point in two
weeks ago to stand on 32%, while
Labour is down two points on 26%
and the Brexit party unchanged on
16%. The Liberal Democrats are on
15%, the SNP 5%, the Greens on 4%,
and Plaid Cymru and Ukip on 1%.Quarter of voters say they
stockpile or delay big buys
Toby Helm
Political EditorPolling