Absolutely extraordinary. A trade border on the island of Ireland has been created at the stroke of a pen in Brussels- and yet no-one there thought to tell anyone in Belfast or Dublin. https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1355253347859787778

Throughout the Brexit process there was (justifiable) criticism from Dublin and Brussels that the British government seemed insensitive to the particular problems of Northern Ireland and the problems around the border. Now the shoe is firmly on the other foot.

That said, it is possible to think that the EU is behaving very badly but also recognise that the post-Brexit relationship (and how new it is) does build in a certain instability in the EU/UK relationship...

... and (as many of us have pointed out) an especially perilous position for NI, as it is, betwixt and between the two. We’re some of those dynamic play out.

The fact is, this is going to happen a lot. Northern Ireland’s status is now deeply uncertain. The new order post-Brexit hasn’t even been completed, let alone embedded. Every crisis is going to stress test them and the players involved. It’s inherently quite unpredictable.