Economically and psychologically, Ireland is closer to Boston than Berlin, and to Britain than Germany.
Problems that it may cause our nearest and closest neighbour would also be problems for us.
Our real interests derive from forging understandings and ties with countries which have traditionally considered themselves British in all but name.
Also: Rudd and Mundell rule out Scottish exceptions on single market and immigration; Welsh Labour team up with Plaid to fight for status quo; and more.
It’s a scoop for the man she sacked. And, over at the Foreign Office, what will a certain fellow-journalist be thinking…?
The arguments are more finely balanced than in the case of the Single Market, but maintaining the present arrangement would blunt the point of Brexit.
Also: Brokenshire pledges to focus on victims of republicans; Welsh Tories attack Jones’ record of failure; SNP accused of wasting over £940m; and more.
Britain and Ireland have gradually built a better relationship. There’s no reason why it should be bust by Brexit.
Their call for a border poll at least three times since June’s referendum result betrays a lack of confidence that such an event could ever happen.
Also: Demands for probe into expenses of SNP MPs as costs soar; economist says Wales no longer ‘significantly underfunded’; and more.
The problems that change throwns up for the two countries are formidable but not insoluble.
If so, we should pay any new costs.
In practice, though, it’s a wholly avoidable problem. All that’s needed is the political will to sustain our current partnership.
It highlights primarily the increasingly difficulty capital-U Unionism faces appealing to a more diverse, less tribal Northern Ireland.