Written Interview by Brady Baylis, 04/07/2023

"The Effect of Brexit Negotiations Regarding Northern Ireland on a US–UK Trade Deal"

The United States, the United Kingdom and the Irish Republic share a unique, complicated and familial relationship. The three nations share a language, legal legacy, as well as a long history of tension. After centuries of colonialism and imperialism, the United States and Ireland earned their independence from the United Kingdom. Despite this colonial past, the three countries have a close relationship based on geography, geopolitical concerns and shared culture. While time has smoothed out most colonial tensions, their relationships are still delicate and complex.

Twenty-five years ago, the Irish and British governments, with American assistance, negotiated the Good Friday Agreement, which ended a violent and bloody conflict called the Troubles. After nearly a century of war and violent conflict, this treaty brought about a tense and fragile peace. The most important tenent of this Agreement was that the Irish Republic and its twin, Northern Ireland, would never be separated by international borders. Following the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, this delicate balance came under threat.

Chris Carey, who completed his Bachelor’s degree in Economics last spring, represents a contingent of Irish-Americans who anxiously watch the growing tensions between Ireland and the United Kingdom. He is in good company as many prominent politicians, including the Irish-American President Joe Biden, have prioritized Irish peace. Carey, however, noted that he was “about thirty-five years younger” than everyone else in the room. Chris Carey, along with other Catholic University students and Irish-Americans, were encouraged to create the Young Friends of Ireland, which would serve as a forum for American students to learn more about Irish issues and work to maintain peace.

Carey’s reception of a Certificate in Irish Studies also lent to his deepened interests. “I have seen a lack of scholarship about how the U.S.-U.K trade negotiations were, in some respects, being used as a leverage point to ensure the United Kingdom would uphold the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement,” Chris said when asked about his research. Through his economic and political analysis, Carey disagrees with Brexit Minister Lord Frost, who described the United States as ‘interested observers’ in the Irish conflict. “A lot of United States officials took Lord Frost’s comment personally because it is not like the U.S. are interested observers,” Carey asserted, adding “They played an active and fundamental role in the peace process in the 1990s, which the Northern Ireland Protocol is supposed to protect”.

The Irish flag is a tricolor, with green, white, and orange segments. The green represents the Catholic population while the orange represents the Protestant population. The white in between represents the long-desired peace. The tricolor is a representation of this continual struggle, but red and blue has a place to represent how Americans, both of Irish heritage and not, long to see the two sides in a lasting, friendly, and familial peace. Through his research, Chris Carey charts the complications within this fraught relationship and how family peace is often difficult to achieve.

Read Chris' article, "The Effect of Brexit Negotiations Regarding Northern Ireland on a US–UK Trade Deal," in Inventio's upcoming Volume 8!