Ahead of a now imminent referendum on the United Kingdom’s (UK) membership of the European Union (EU) this presentation addresses the specific issue of how much the EU dimension matters to Northern Ireland and considers the implications of a Brexit for this region of the UK. It is divided into two main parts. The first provides an overview considering the regional context and how the possibility of a Brexit raises particular issues for Northern Ireland, not least given it is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with an EU member state. The second, and main, section explores a series of salient issues for Northern Ireland, including the potential impact of Brexit on business, trade and investment, the financing of agricultural and fisheries, university research funding and student mobility exchanges.

The presentation reviews the nature and content of the outcome to the UK government’s attempt to renegotiate the terms of UK membership of the European Union (EU) as well as options for a new relationship in the case of a vote to leave the EU. The presentation reviews the agreement reached in February 2016 and assess its significance for a continued UK membership of the EU. Drawing on analysis of existing arrangements governing relations between non-member states and the EU, the presentation also considers the principles and precedents that are likely to determine the nature and substance of any new relationship the UK can conclude with the EU if there is a vote to leave the EU on 23 June 2016. 

A United Kingdom (UK) exit from the European Union (EU) poses significant questions for the UK’s borders, the most pertinent of which are: would there be a need for a hard border? If so, where would it run? The primary goal of the Leave campaign is to halt the influx of ‘unwanted outsiders’ to the UK. Such a goal requires a territorial border to be configured as a security barrier. Such bordering is considered here in the contexts of the UK, Great Britain, and the British Isles.