Brexit altered the relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom in a profound way and led directly to the fall of two British prime ministers and contributed to the downfall of a third. The ongoing dispute over the Irish border continues to poison relations between the two countries and estrange the UK from its allies in Europe.

With the UK’s exit from the European Union, the challenge of managing the Irish border as a source and a symbol of British-Irish difference became an international concern. The solution found in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement gives the Irish border a globally unique status.

Brexit represents the single greatest economic and foreign-policy challenge to the Irish state since the Second World War. There is hardly any area of Irish life that won't be affected.