Game over? The Withdrawal Agreement is by no means the end of the Brexit negotiations

The announcement of the Withdrawal Agreement on November 13th was a momentous occasion, regardless of its final fate and the aftermath in London. It followed years of intense and fractious negotiations between the EU and the UK government. Although negotiating the future EU-UK relationship will also be arduous, it is difficult to envisage any issue more fractious as resolving the Northern Irish/Irish border issue. Given its uncertain fate in Westminster and the forthcoming EU-UK trade talks, the Agreement is by no means the end game, but nonetheless there are various lessons to be learnt about the EU, about the UK, about Northern Ireland and Ireland and about the British- Irish relationship from its negotiation and from the past 24 months, writes Etain Tannam (Trinity College Dublin).