[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

If you're being realistic and not idealistic, what can we offer to Ireland in return for them agreeing to a worse Northern Ireland Protocol? They've got the EU behind them. The EU can make things difficult for our exporters to the Continent if Ireland felt we were acting in a perfidious manner.

Realistically, what cards do we honestly hold that we've not played yet?

If we dump the NI Protocol, the Irish economy will be in great danger. I suspect that's the only card we hold. EU retaliation would likely be punishment through repudiation/suspension of the trade deal. But at least the gloves will be off and we'll all know where we stand.

In particular, the GB/UK situation will be normalised.