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This is Paul Adamson and I'm in conversation with Lord Mandelson. Peter Manson is a former First Secretary of State of United Kingdom and a former European Commissioner for Trade. Peter, we're obviously going to talk about Brexit,

but one of your many earlier hats also was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

and obviously in the Brexit talks, the question of this hard border between Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland has become very, very salient in the past few days and weeks.

Do you see a solution out of what seems to be at the moment an impasse on this issue?

Well, I certainly think there needs to be a solution. It's not something that can be put on to this,

too complicated to handle or too difficult to find a solution pile.

There has to be a way forward, found.

The British government carries the primary onus and responsibility for doing that.

Look, let me just jog back a bit on this because I think people don't understand why it is so important, the question of the border in Ireland.

It was a very important part and feature of the Good Friday Agreement that in addition to Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK, whilst the majority of the people in Northern

Ireland want that, it was also envisaged that in effect a single economy across the island

of Ireland should be encouraged, it should emerge, and that's exactly what's happened. To all

the intention and purposes, there is no border.

And we all know that the border has had huge toteming significance in that island. And for it to

reappear now and to reinsert itself, I think, would would be very very destabilising. I think it

would give encouragement to those elements who are still prone to resorting to violence. It

would certainly give them targets, certainly give them something to fire at. And you couldn't

say, I've said that in the last,

you know, 10 years since the Good Friday Agreement, 20 years since the Good Friday Agreement was agreed.

You know, you have literally almost a single economy, you have a single labour market, you have a single

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