Lord Ashcroft: Brexit, border polls and customs checks – my new focus groups in Northern Ireland

Understandably, the unionists and republicans we interviewed have very different views on the questions facing the Province.

Let’s leave the EU first and get a better Brexit later. What some Leave supporters are saying.

They argue that even if May doesn’t deliver a clean outcome, the priority must be to ensure that the Article 50 timetable is met.

Boiling the Brexiteer frog

We are being nudged towards Norway Minus rather than Canada Plus Plus Plus almost without anyone noticing.

Henry Newman: The more we look back to the referendum, and re-fight its battles, the less we get ready for the future

And most EU member states haven’t spent nearly enough time really thinking what the future relationship between the UK and EU should look like, either.

WATCH: Clarke – ‘There is no technology that allows an open border with different customs’

The former Chancellor turns Duncan Smith’s point around to argue that inventing and implementing a new solution to the Irish border won’t work.

WATCH: Duncan Smith – Implementing customs partnership would be ‘a nightmare’

The architect of Universal Credit is deeply sceptical that the Government could design and implement a completely new system in time.

WATCH: Chakrabarti explains why Labour want a ‘bespoke arrangement’ with the EU

“Our economy is very different from Norway”, she explains as she demurs from Lord Kinnock’s proposals.

WATCH: Starmer – ‘Nobody credible’ thinks Irish border can be avoided without customs union

The Shadow Brexit Secretary explains that Labour want a comprehensive customs union and a ‘strong single market relationship’.

WATCH: Coveney says Dublin expects Britain to honour its commitments on Ireland

“Last December there was a clear agreement… that there would be no border infrastructure of any kind.”

Henry Hill: May clashes with Tory MPs and Irish nationalists over Troubles inquiries

Also: Welsh Tories criticise Jones’ delayed departure; Welsh Labour row over voting reform continues; Trimble attacks ‘scaremongering’ over Ulster; and more.

WATCH: McDonnell – a customs union is only possible solution regarding the Irish border

The Shadow Chancellor also says “we want to get as close to the Single Market as we possibly can”.

Iain Duncan Smith: May’s ministers have rejected the customs partnership. In clinging to to it, Number 10 is making a mistake.

Following the results of last Thursday’s elections, we should feel rejuvenated by the clarity of the pro-Brexit message that the voters sent to us.

Henry Hill: Trades unions clash with front-runner for Welsh Labour leadership

Also: Sinn Fein defend senator’s ‘unionist’ credentials; Plaid bid to outlaw mockery of the Welsh language; and London and Edinburgh face Supreme Court showdown.

David Shiels: An Ulster by-election this week – and why abstention is a greater challenge to the Union than Brexit

It knows that it can continue the policy of staying out of the institutions in Belfast and London without damaging its long-term strategy. Unionists need them to work.

Rebecca Lowe: What Alfie Evans, an IVF-conceived child and the abortion pill all have in common

These concerns, however, often only add to the need for us to remain ethically and democratically engaged, particularly regarding the most emotive cases.