The United Kingdom shares a 310-mile land border with the Republic of Ireland.
As it stands right now, the Irish border is open.
People cross it daily.
Commerce flows from the North to the South unhindered.
A so-called hard border is undesirable for a lot of reasons (which Ill get to later).
One idea feted by the UK government is the use of technology.
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Blockchain wont help solve the problem of the Irish border.
It just wont and more accurately, cant.
This isnt an indictment of the technology itself.
While Ive got some strong feelings about blockchain, this isnt the place to discuss them.
Towering walls topped with metal wire, euphemistically called peace walls, divide neighborhoods based on their religious makeup.
What followed was a compromise.
Northern Ireland is still part of the UK.
Its currency is pounds sterling, and the Queen still maintains a sprawling residence in County Down.
Lyra McKee, a Belfast-based author and journalist, identifies as Irish.
For a lot of people, identity is very important to them, particularly around the border.
A lot of people commute from the border counties to the South for work and vice versa.
Hospitals in the border counties have staff living in the South, explained McKee.
You cant put the genie back in the bottle.
A lot of people living at the border also have holiday homes in the South or grandchildren.
Any attempt to change this status quo will inevitably cause great pain to the nationalist community.
While the troubles have ended and theres little appetite for violence, a hard border could rekindle old resentments.
The fear is that this has the potential to reopen old wounds.
It cuts through towns and farmland.
you might quite easily walk from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland without actually realizing it.
The only clue will be that roadsigns now display speeds in kilometers instead of miles.
Her cousin could leave her house and walk 2 minutes up her lane and shed be in the North.
There are also complicated edge scenarios, like livestock wandering from North to South.
And thats before you discuss the timeframe.
Theres less than six months until the UK crashes out of the EU.
This, simply, isnt something that blockchain can fix.
The issue isnt technology, but a bubbling cauldron of society, history, heritage, and geography.
Why blockchain?
Brexit is looming, and negotiations arent going well.
The prospect of the UK leaving without a deal is very real.
The thing is, the Irish border isnt a trivial issue.
It was the trophy at the center of a violent sectarian conflict where thousands died.
Although The Troubles are over, the embers of the conflict still burn.
