One country? No: Northern Ireland has always been treated differently

The DUP’s struggle to prevent special status for Northern Ireland has shaped Brexit negotiations for months, writes Duncan Morrow (Ulster University). At the heart of the DUP’s position is a single, apparently obvious demand: ‘We joined as one country and we will leave as one country’. On the surface, the logic seems impeccable: different treatment within the UK as a result of Brexit is both novel and dangerous for British sovereignty in Northern Ireland. Except that it has no basis in precedent.