Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-16)

◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek November 16, 2020

46

● BrexitandCovidhavecollidedin a Northern

IrishbordercityscarredbytheTroubles

Derry’sTentative

PeaceUnderStrain

SelinaHorshi’s58-roomWhiteHorseHotelsitsjust

offtheusuallybusyA2highwayontheoutskirtsof

DerryinNorthernIreland,a fewmilesfromthe

borderwiththeRepublicofIreland.It alsostands

inthemiddleofwhatrisksturningintoa conflu-

enceofdisasters.Thecityof90,000people,which

is synonymouswiththesectarianconflictthatcrip-

pledtheU.K.provinceforthreedecades,is nowon

thefrontlinesofbothBrexitandtheCovid-19crisis.

NowherehasmoreatstakethanDerryasBritain

andtheEuropeanUniontrytothrashouta Brexit

tradeagreementbeforethetransitionperiodends

onJan.1. ThefateofthenowinvisibleU.K.-Ireland

borderandcross-bordertradeis unclear.Inand

aroundDerry,localsfrequentlyliveononesideof

theborderandwork,shop,andattendschoolson

theother.Talksona dealresumedonNov.9,with

timerunningshortandbothsidessuggestingthere

are still big differences.

Horshi fears that tensions will rise in Derry as

virus restrictions hurt an already battered econ-

omy. Even before the pandemic hit, the city ranked

among the highest in the U.K. for unemployment

andamongthelowestforeconomicwell-being.

DerryhasfacedheavierCovid-19curbsthanthe

restofNorthernIrelandandtheU.K.forweeks

becauseofitshighinfectionrate.

“ThecombinationofthepandemicandBrexit

couldbefeltmoreheavilyherebecausethisis an

areathathashistoricallysufferedfrompoverty,”

saysHorshi.Manyoftheyoungerstaffinherhotel

havelittlememoryoftheviolenceknownasthe

Troubles,shesays:“Idon’twantthemtoseehow

it couldgetbadagain.”

Inflammatorylanguageisalreadybeingused:

WhenCovid-19caseswereexplodinginNorthern

Irelandlastmonth,EdwinPoots,a pro-U.K.minis-

terinBelfast’spower-sharingassembly,appearedto

linktheexplosionofthevirustothemostlyCatholic

Irishnationalistcommunity.Thissparkeda furious

backlash,withoneopponentcallingit a disgrace

tohintthatit wasa Catholicproblemanddemand-

ingheretract.Pootsdeniedhewasmakinganylink

betweenreligiousidentityandthespreadofthe

virus.Rather,hesuggestedthatthelackofsocialdis-

tancingbynationalistleadersata funeralthatfilled

thestreetsofBelfasthadseta badexample.

Meanwhile,mostnationalistsfearthattheU.K.’s

exitfromtheEU—broadlybackedbyunionists,

whosupportNorthernIreland’sremaininginthe

U.K.,yetoverwhelminglyopposedbyDerryvot-

ersoverall—couldendangerthefragilepeaceand

theeconomicrevivalthat’snowbeingreversed

bythevirus.JoeBiden,whowillbecomethenext

U.S.president,tweetedinSeptemberthattheGood

FridayAgreementthatlargelyendedtheconflictin

1998 can’tbecomea “casualtyofBrexit.”

“AhardBrexit,a no-dealBrexit,andallthat

flowsfromthatwouldthreatenthestabilitythat

wehave,”saysColumEastwood,a nationalistlaw-

makerandleaderoftheSocialDemocraticand

LabourParty.“Addedtoincreasingpovertylev-

els,it’sa mixthatcouldhavereallydangerous

consequences.”

Formany,Derryisthecradleoftheviolence

thatrackedNorthernIreland.Transformedinto

a bordercitywhenIrelandwaspartitionedinthe

1920s,it wasgroundzerofora civilrightsmove-

mentinthe1960sand’70sasCatholicsmarched

fromthedeprivedBogsidearea,demandinghous-

ing,education,andpoliticalequality.Attackson

thosemarchesbypro-U.K.loyalistsandtheBritish

militaryhelpedencouragetheemergenceofthe

Irish Republican Army. In the most infamous inci-

dent, soldiers shot and killed unarmed civilians in

the Bogside on “Bloody Sunday” in 1972.

Reminders are peppered around the city,

which is officially called Londonderry—the name

▼ Average expenditure

of Republic of Ireland

households on their

most recent shopping

trip to Northern Ireland

Clothes, footwear,

and sports goods

€93

Food and groceries

€89

Alcohol €39

Cosmetics €12

Medicine €6

Petrol/diesel €6

Other €30

insurers and brokers, a change that Loeffler and

Perdue support but Democrats oppose. Ossoff

spoke at a rally at the Georgia state Capitol on

Nov. 10, attacking Loeffler and Perdue for support-

ing the lawsuit at the Supreme Court.

Even a small chance the law could fall has sup-

porters nervous. “I don’t think the Supreme Court

is going to pull the trigger here, but I can’t tell you

that for sure,” Bagley, of the University of Michigan,

says. “It would be such a calamity if it did. And I

say that independent of whether you support or

oppose the Affordable Care Act. Just the chaos that

a decision like that would sow is something that we

normally try to avoid.” �Greg Stohr, Lydia Wheeler,

and Kimberly Robinson, with Jennifer Epstein and

BillyHouse

THE BOTTOM LINE Comments made by two key justices suggest

Obamacare will survive its third challenge at the Supreme Court. If

it doesn’t, Democrats may have little recourse to save it.