Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

In the 1970s, about 300 people a year were being killed in Northern Ireland (pretty evenly distributed between Catholics and Protestants). In the last ten years, that average figure has been about 3 per year.
With both Northern Ireland and Ireland being EU members, there is at present an open border and a rather tense co-existence between Cs and Ps in Ireland/Northern Ireland. Brexit could really screw that up because it would logically require a fixed, hard border with check points, etc. As one local put it, "If they build a checkpoint, someone will blow it up." - and it only takes one dead soldier to spark off a tit-for-tat killing spree that could take us right back to those 70s death rates again.

During the original Brexit Referendum that border issue was barely mentioned, and if it was, Brexiteers said, "oh, something will be worked out". Unfortunately, is it 3 years later?, there is still no good solution being put forward; Brexit could end up like launching a ship with a huge hole below the waterline, saying " oh, we'll work something out, let's launch it anyway!"