Fintan O'Toole: Brexit: Ireland and the English Question

Рет қаралды 370,117

Күн бұрын

As Britain prepares to leave the European Union, it has become ever clearer, not just that Brexit has profound consequences for Ireland, but that Irish issues have profound consequences for Brexit. Ireland is strongly committed to remaining in the EU, and is thus set to become its only English-speaking member state.
After Britain leaves the EU in March 2019, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will suddenly become a major international frontier. The peace process that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement 20 years ago has made the border largely invisible. This has been a crucial contributor to the normalising of life on the island of Ireland. But Brexit threatens to bring back a hard border - a development all sides say they abhor but no one seems to know how to avoid. This is why the Irish question has become the single most important factor in shaping Brexit. As Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland wait for Britain to provide an exit strategy, tensions are rising. How can Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic prepare for Brexit? Can Northern Ireland reject Brexit and fight to maintain EU ties? How will these EU-related decisions affect relations between the two? And what does this problem tell us about the crisis of English identity that has led to this extraordinary moment in the entangled history of Ireland and Britain? Fintan O’Toole, historical writer, political commentator, and columnist for the Irish Times, will discuss the consequences Brexit may have for Ireland.
Fintan has won both the European Press Prize and the Orwell Prize for his writings on Brexit and his book Brexit: The Politics of Pain will be published in November. While in the Bay Area, Fintan O'Toole will also join 15 visiting writers and poets from Ireland at the third annual Irish Arts & Writers Festival, Los Gatos. Fintan will read from and sign his new highly informative and entertaining book, "Judging Shaw", at Montalvo Arts Center, Friday Oct. 12th. More info at www.irishartsfestival.com
SPEAKER:
Fintan O'Toole
Journalist, The Irish Times
MODERATOR:
Jane Wales
CEO, World Affairs and Global Philanthropy Forum; Vice President, The Aspen Institute
For more information about this event please visit: worldaffairs.org/event-calenda...
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Twitter: / world_affairs
Website: www.worldaffairs.org

Пікірлер: 1 700

@derekphilips6781 4 жыл бұрын

Excellent. I am a Scot living in a Brexit area in England. The English need an English Parliament similar to the Scotland. The people are not represented . Westminster does not deal with English social problems

@monkeymox2544 4 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure that an English parliament would solve all that much - the north / south divide would continue to be a problem, among other things. We abandoned the concept of England as a political unit 300 years ago, and I don't think there's much change of resurrecting it now, at least not in a way that's healthy. Regional assemblies are probably the way forward - although having said that, further fracturing the UK could be very dangerous (from my perspective, but I am a unionist).

@barrygardiner5446 5 жыл бұрын

Why don't have more journalists of this quality in the UK?

@generalmortars9490 5 жыл бұрын

That was absolutely brilliant. And I'd also like to commend probably the best, most polite audience I've ever seen in one of these events.

@MrDragon1968 5 жыл бұрын

Speaking as an English person: can we have Fintan O'Toole come and advise us more please. Ta. That was superb.

@brucelee5 5 жыл бұрын

As an Irish person can we have the clown sacked,what an absolute muppet, although if you are an extreme left wing,love abortion,gay twisted marriage, euthanasia,multiculturism, diversity,hatred of anything Christian and hatred of the Irish people and it's culture,yeah let's have this Communist clown indoctrinate us "illiterate" fools. This person should be put out with retired race horses... and that is being kind to him.

@taintabird23 5 жыл бұрын

As an Irish person, stop assuming to represent the rest of us.

@lfcgero35 5 жыл бұрын

@@brucelee5 you talk utter shite pal. I doubt if you even irish with that attitude and opinion. But just on the off chance you are irish you should crawl back to the hole you crept out of with your racist , homophobic views talking about christainity like the irish give a fuck about relegion anymore. Ireland is a secular country now were the catholic church has no power anymore but if you were irish you would know this already. You live in the 1700s pal , why dont you go up to the unionists up the north they would have no problem with your backward views and racist bigoted opinions. You are in a small minority as the gay marriage referendum proved and the abortion referendum. You will be left behind as ireland moves forward intolerance and hatred towards others is not wanted in ireland anymore we had enough of that with the troubles. You should wake up to reality before its too late.

@gloin10 4 жыл бұрын

@@brucelee5 Objectively, if you are actually Irish, you are part of a tiny minority which has been hiding under a rock for the last 40 years. Or which emigrated to the USA or the UK in the early 1970s... However, anyone who characterises Fintan O'Toole as either Communist or "...extreme left wing..." is simply NOT connected to reality. Anyone, Irish or not, who can claim that Fintan O'Toole has "...hatred of anything Christian and hatred of the Irish people and it's culture..." is simply insane. You are just another Brixiteer pretending to be Irish, basically.

@naimulhaq9626 4 жыл бұрын

If I were O'Toole I would advise give up N. Ireland.

@johnhannay16 5 жыл бұрын

A joy to find Fintan is as good a speaker as he is a writer. The best analysis of our Brexit quandary to date.

@audreyoreilly4055 5 жыл бұрын

I know!!!

@anthonyburke5677 5 жыл бұрын

@Byzantine repeating the same thing doesn't make it true!

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

@Byzantine I think Fintan got that part quite well.

@prophetsnake 5 жыл бұрын

@Byzantine Nope, he's spot on. I've been in and out of Britain working there for 35 years. What they say, write and believe about Europe and their place in the world is precisely as he states, though he rather graciously leaves out the rampant racism.

@PerfidiousPuffin 5 жыл бұрын

Its awful analysis. He's wrong on every point, super super wrong. But the mainstream media metropolitans eat this crap up.

@plumduff3303 5 жыл бұрын

My friends died during the troubles I'm English so did so many Irish people these so called politicians are f....disgrace.

@philmorris7964 5 жыл бұрын

I am Irish and lived in England for 22 years. Leaving in Dec 2018 but always thought it was very unfair that all other countries in UK had devolved administrations but England was ignored and let down in this respect.

5 жыл бұрын

You didn't notice how many mp's they had?

@miguelsilva9118 5 жыл бұрын

England dominates the Union.

@hannahdyson5603 5 жыл бұрын

To be honest I am from the North West of England and I don't want a English Paraliment . It would make matters worse for us , we would be crushed by all the descions going in the Home Counties favour . The Yorkshire party and North East party didn't do to bad in the last local elections especially amoung younger voters . What does that tell you ?

@aine7173 5 жыл бұрын

Your too long in England.

@taintabird23 5 жыл бұрын

I agree. I think each of England's regions should have an assembly.

@Jason-np4rl 5 жыл бұрын

As an American largely ignorant of British history/politics, and trying to understand Brexit, I learned an incredible amount watching this video. Thank you!

@seanmartinman7946 4 жыл бұрын

If you are taken in by this anti British dummy then you really are ignorant of the Brexit saga, just imaging having the Germans and French making your laws, plundering your waters taking 2 thirds of you fish, sending penniless people into your country with uncontrolled immigration many of them career criminals, which you have to social house and feed while your own people wait years for social housing. We Brits are patriotic welcoming people but we are not being taken for a ride any longer. Ireland was poverty stricken till joining the EU and they are now poodles to the EU however its predicted Ireland will want out as their net contribution to the EU rises and they no longer are on the EU gravy train. They will then do as does the UK, pay in £billions get back a few millions, they will have to fund all the jobless homeless immigrants from European states, including millions of African and Middle East (Syrian Iranian and Iraqi ) illegal migrants held in camps in Italy and Greece that no EU countries want to take. Germany Sweden Austria etc took thousands who found they were raping and sexually assaulting the woman odf the host nations. Its not about O'Tools BS of prawn cocktails etc its about the Islamization of our country, the loss of sovereignty , the laws made by other nations and under a dictatorship. The USA wouldn't stand for this for a day. Thats why Brexit is happening, the EU are panicking as they will lose the £billions we pay in, the Irish are panicking because they will have to help make up the short fall by contributing more. BTW crime is also rapidly on the increase in Ireland.

@nudgenudgewinkwink3212 4 жыл бұрын

Two sides to every story listen to the other side as well.

@Maxplanar1 5 жыл бұрын

Superb. O'Toole rises above every other commentator on the issue. Just brilliant.

@Ystadcop 5 жыл бұрын

The finest, most carefully considered commentary and analysis of the Brexit situation that I have ever come across. So weird, being far more used to blustering oaf politicians combatting egocentric journalists.

@SergioMoonbeam 5 жыл бұрын

No wonder he won the Orwell prize for his coverage on Brexit.

@MichaelFlynn0 5 жыл бұрын

@mcr1jp as an aussie I apologize for that fuckwit Murdoch.

@anthonyburke5677 5 жыл бұрын

@Byzantine everyone is a shill when their opinion doesn't match yours!

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

@@MichaelFlynn0 I think Fintan got that part quite well too.

@ChuckChuckWood 5 жыл бұрын

Byzantine a shill and nothing more? Did you even watch this? This is about as pragmatic as it gets. I reckon there’s no hope for Britain, we should boot you mouth-breathing morons out with no deal, then sit back and laugh as you drown....

@sethbrown1763 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Mr O'Toole, for your very clear and patient explanation of Brexit from the Irish perspective. Very enlightening.

@johnkennedy3403 5 жыл бұрын

A great summary of the issues for those outside Ireland and the UK. Thank you very much Fintan!

@caoimhexx1 5 жыл бұрын

A great summary for British people too. Don’t know shit about their history.

@senorgammon6161 5 жыл бұрын

Yes your right there British people don't know shit about their history unlike the high horse Irish who know everything about England an it's society.

@senorgammon6161 5 жыл бұрын

This guy is talking shit about empire, the only people I've heard mention empire are Irish people and middle class m25 centrics. Brexit was because of decades of deindustrialsation and austerity and uncontrolled mass immigration which in a capitalist society where financial accommodations aren't made leads to social pressures. But yes middle class Irish people know all about working class England.

@leehallam9365 5 жыл бұрын

It was a summary of an Irish perspective, not a British one.

@ChuckChuckWood 5 жыл бұрын

senor gammon Britain’s an embarrassment... Obsessed with their outdated, irrelevant class system nonsense, and haven’t even realised that the only people fucking over the British “working class” are the British upper class, the way it’s always been - But, thanks to 30 years of a deluded, misleading and manipulative press all of a sudden Boris Johnson and Jacob Reese-Mogg are the champions of the working classes! Yeah, once you shake off that oppressive EU, everything will be great, money and doughnuts for everyone.. Jesus, read a book or something...

@encomunismo 5 жыл бұрын

This man is absolutely brilliant.

@paulbergin5903 5 жыл бұрын

Loam Bart he is pal. grew up listening to this man on irish radio and tv,he's very clear and honest,in my opinion.

@beastieboy3926 5 жыл бұрын

He may be brilliant, but he is not without his own agenda.

@Eire-hj1ct 5 жыл бұрын

Support for united Ireland from Germany 🇮🇪

@slacker2101 5 жыл бұрын

Absurd position of DUP: they insist that NI law is different from UK law on abortion, same sex marriage and libel, but refuse to allow customs checks on goods from UK to NI and vice versa.

@suchjoyambitionfinds 5 жыл бұрын

Stunningly well done - great to see, by the way, an intelligent host who is informed and provocative but still allows the speaker to actually speak!

@kgalal2 5 жыл бұрын

the best explanation of Brexit I ever watched, discussing all the issues in plain english and without the usual media/political bias

@TheSuperblaw 5 жыл бұрын

An excellent analysis by Mr O'Toole. He is coherent, logical and concise. He conveys more information and facts than most politicians. His honesty is good to witness and once again contrasts with others who really should know better.

@beastieboy3926 5 жыл бұрын

you should get out more

@denisdaly1708 4 жыл бұрын

@@beastieboy3926 as a social psychologist, I have to say that he knows his stuff and is insightful.

@annchristine47 5 жыл бұрын

What a fantastically informed,intelligent discussion.Thankyou Mr O'Toole.Living in America,Ispeak with family throughout Britain every other day so I know the disaster that Brexit has become .

@JuanKuzov 5 жыл бұрын

it has not become anything yet liar

@denisdaly1708 4 жыл бұрын

@@JuanKuzov so angry.

@raymonddavies6381 4 жыл бұрын

you must listen to people with their own predjucies. get real, we just want to be a sovereign nation. That is simple to understand surely?

@mjomalley 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mr.O'Toole. As usual you give me hope by making sense out of what seems on the surface to be a spreading insanity...

@unfixablegop 5 жыл бұрын

One straight hour of common sense.

@Anon-xd3cf 5 жыл бұрын

A bloody rare thing these days.

@johnnywhite58 5 жыл бұрын

he's an excellent columnist for the Irish Times and has got abuse from our moronocrasy largely people who vote Fianna Fail who bankrupted the country twice . oh yes we have our twats aswell!

@nnipy 5 жыл бұрын

Anti British Paddy who only wants his cake { Northern Ireland } and eat it .

@anthonyburke5677 5 жыл бұрын

@@nnipy let me guess! A uneducated english xenaplobic unicorn believer!

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

@@nnipy Not sure whether Fintan would actually want this specific cake.

@davandbre 5 жыл бұрын

I stood and applauded at the TV as it finished, Fintan O'Toole summes up Brexit so eloquently.

@TheMiccamuk 5 жыл бұрын

you are truly deluded to the extent that you are not aware of being so.

@josepholeary3286 5 жыл бұрын

"It faked it's own death" -- Fintan is brilliant as usual.

@adamreilly5264 5 жыл бұрын

How refreshing! A nation which produces rational, intelligent commentators and leaders. You guessed it; I'm from britain (deliberate small 'b').

@bernardleeis 5 жыл бұрын

Adam Reilly he’s from Dublin Ireland, not British!

@dimejinky99 5 жыл бұрын

Bernard Lee He was talking abut the fact that he was Irish. Jesus please try read and understand and slowly in your case

@rapier1954 5 жыл бұрын

@@bernardleeis HE knows, and your reading comprehension is appalling.

@davidharrington1133 5 жыл бұрын

Oh they are not all like him, trust me.

@bikeman9899 5 жыл бұрын

Fintan is an excellent chronicler of really one of the most important developments in modern European history.

@GOGOLH 5 жыл бұрын

The SNP publish a 900-page prospectus for an independent Scotland. The Tory government seems to have had no plan for a post-Brexit UK, with Ireland not even an afterthought.

@dennisklomp2361 5 жыл бұрын

Ill never forget the pure astonishment and fear on the face of boris johnson when the referendum counts came in. My god, how despair and greed can make people do stupid things

@NPC-st7zv 5 жыл бұрын

Peppa pigs boyfriend thought he was a nailed on winner.

@Mike7O7O 5 жыл бұрын

Ireland not even an after thought, neatly sums up their place in the world.

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

@@Mike7O7O Britain gets a good amount of food from us. www.rte.ie/news/business/2017/0913/904427-irish-exports-to-uk/ Ireland is world's foremost top in terms of food security www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-food-security/ We're feeding at least five times as many people as are living here.

@ChuckChuckWood 5 жыл бұрын

M W Oh someone’s cranky! Keep that talk up and we won’t let you have Brexit, okay? Go over there and eat your tin of sardines or whatever’s considered a treat in England these days...

@ikm64 5 жыл бұрын

A masterclass on Brexit, now if you can only get all UK citizens to watch it before it's too late. Sadly I think it is ( too late ). but I live in hope.

@dimejinky99 5 жыл бұрын

Hammer 001 stop. You’re hilarious.

@georgedoorley5628 5 жыл бұрын

@Hammer 001 irish firm has been contacted to oversee the removal of the nissan car plant to a site in mainland eu .....tba , if nodeal brexit happens !

@davejohnson4783 5 жыл бұрын

Not Quite LOL

@mcmcpoi-ra7405 5 жыл бұрын

@stephen morris Caps lock makes people take you less seriously, not more seriously, just so you know.

@beastieboy3926 5 жыл бұрын

you are right .It is too late,we are leaving the EU,

@christal2641 5 жыл бұрын

Lovely man, he reminds me of Abraham Lincoln who had a plan for peace after the American Civil War: "charity towards all and malice towards none." The assassination of Lincoln prevented him from leading that process, and Reconstruction saw too much malice from some on both sides of the war. America has yet to have it's own "Truth and Reconciliation" process, and too many Southerners haven't forgiven Blacks for having ancestors who were slaves. That's been a driving force behind much of the vitriol in Washington. Maybe, once Brexit has run its course and Eire is united, the English will acknowledge the harm they did to Scotland, Eire, and the other colonies.

@corcaighrebel 5 жыл бұрын

Finally after 800 years, the 'English Question' with Ireland via the EU holding the key card and the possibility of a united Ireland more, not less, likely. History rarely repeats but it does do irony.

@UrbanMouse 5 жыл бұрын

The rational thoughtful Fintan O'Toole on form as usual

@leonardniamh 5 жыл бұрын

Hasn't been a journalist for decades

@Noosejunkie 5 жыл бұрын

Best talk I’ve ever heard on Brexit.

@brucemcnair8887 4 жыл бұрын

This chap is an Irishman purporting to know what the English think. That could never be. This man is a golden-tongued bigoted and insular islander. Clearly descended from that mass of southern Irish who allied with Nazis.

@anthonymurphyDroghedaRural 4 жыл бұрын

@@brucemcnair8887 the truth hurts, hence your angry emotive response to his analysis.

@simonkennedy9144 5 жыл бұрын

What a super bloke more sense then the Parliament can put together In a lifetime good lad

@JonnM 5 жыл бұрын

Wow!! There are only around 100 land border crossings between Canada and the US, a border of over 5,500 miles.

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

Less than half the amount of border crossings between the ROI and NI.

@thomasbonner8464 5 жыл бұрын

O’ Toole is, as more often than not, bang on the money.

@rufanuf1 5 жыл бұрын

lol if you say so

@MidnightRambler 5 жыл бұрын

Nope,just another pro eu irish suite..

@ultramutt8278 5 жыл бұрын

According to Wiki, in 2011 he was named by The Observer as one of "Britain's top 300 intellectuals". Whatever nationality he claims to have, I heard nothing here to support that claim. Merely a repeat of some clichéd false generalisations we´ve had more than enough of since June 2016.

@thomasbonner8464 5 жыл бұрын

Not too fond of the underlying racist tone there. What has his irishness got to do with it? Just go the whole hog and call him a paddy.. you know you want to. Go ahead.. I know you lot just can’t help yourselves.

@ChuckChuckWood 5 жыл бұрын

Ultramutt That’s the Dunning-Kruger effect, it allows mouth-breathers like you to think your opinion matters, that it’s valid and is not complete and total horseshit. Anyways good luck on next years list FFS

@bim-ska-la-bim4433 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you - after 3+ years of following the soap opera, I understand Brexit more, better, insert-word-here...well done

@gehdbdnsidhdhd765 4 жыл бұрын

Mr Gwarn Stylee You understand it better from a remainer point of view, who were the losers of this referendum and who still can’t get over that fact. I recommend reading some pieces from the leave campaign who represent what the British people want and what they voted for.

@audreyoreilly4055 5 жыл бұрын

I was glued to this. Fintan is a fabulous writer but what a speaker also. Not a wasted word! Also, the analyses I was craving.

@MyRammy1 5 жыл бұрын

Audrey OReilly He does speak very well Audrey, however, talking as someone who lives in England, I can assure you he is wrong if he thinks Brexit is all about Empire and English nationalism. I wonder if he has ever visited England and spoke to people who voted out.

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

@@MyRammy1 It's all about lies. I can't wait seeing Boris Johnson paying £438m a week to the health service.

@kevinoreilly4169 5 жыл бұрын

Good Analysis By Fintan

@TheShepTV 5 жыл бұрын

Fintan, you're deadly. You make my Irish Times sub a joy to pay

@fe5018 5 жыл бұрын

Think he may be luring back to mine too.

@BFChampions 5 жыл бұрын

He's a great orator, fair play.

@PaulGappyNorris 5 жыл бұрын

stephen morris - Nigel Farage would, and has always, blustered his way through any debate when faced with facts and evidence. He is a great orator but equally he is a political buffoon with a linear view on the Brexit conundrum, and zero understanding of how to run a country - much like the majority squatting in Westminster.

@rosehart341 5 жыл бұрын

This is so coherent. It helps make a lot of sense about the Irish question.

@andrewgoodbody2121 5 жыл бұрын

Rose Hart please do not call it that, it has historic connotations that make Irish skin crawl.

@dimejinky99 5 жыл бұрын

Rose Hart it’s not an ‘Irish question’. It’s Britain setting fire to itself and Ireland trying to fireproof its border. This is aBritish question. If Britain even still exists.

@Dear_Mr._Isaiah_Deringer 5 жыл бұрын

You say 'Irish question'. I hear an English question.

@taintabird23 5 жыл бұрын

He's discussing the English question.

@PanglossDr 4 жыл бұрын

That is such a typically arrogant, stupid, offensive English comment. Did you learn nothing? You may well be a typical example of the people he is talking about.

@ricoroometoo4697 5 жыл бұрын

Great job fintan , love reading your work too

@Em-wb4kf 5 жыл бұрын

Such a clear explanation of the situation facing the UK in Brexit, and especially Ireland. Someone send this video to Theresa May!! And send it on to people you know who are wavering on this question.

@johnjoeflanagan 5 жыл бұрын

Well done Fintan for giving us the benefit of your analysis in an engaging session.

@waikanaebeach 5 жыл бұрын

It's surprising that 80% of conservatives and people voted brexit would forgo the NI peace agreement for brexit. How arrogant, they would put a community that has suffered untold violence and harm at risk again. The selfishness knows no bounds.

@treborsirrah7916 5 жыл бұрын

Brilliant ! ,well done lady for letting him speak without interruption

@Boreas74 5 жыл бұрын

"set to become its only English-speaking member state" Malta is also English (and Maltese) speaking and both Ireland and Malta have worked to strengthen their relations with each other in the last few years.

5 жыл бұрын

Italian.

@colinbaker3916 5 жыл бұрын

Boreas74 He means exclusively English. For Ireland and Malta, Gaelic and Maltese are also recognised, eg you can get documents from the EU in those languages.

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

Still it will be just enough to crack the 1% mark of "native" English speakers in the new EU.

@MrGalvinjohn 5 жыл бұрын

Sure Malta is only a wee island

@simonbarrowuk 5 жыл бұрын

Superb and spot on from Fintan O'Toole, as ever. One of the most thoughtful and helpful commentators we have: insight, knowledge, realism and compassion combined. There are just two small mistakes in this, one of which matters and one of which doesn't. Regarding the Scottish independence referendum, the White Paper in favour of a Yes voted was 670 pages not 900 - that's a detail. However, the second word in the acronym SNP is 'National', not 'Nationalist'. That matters, I say as an English person living in Scotland, because the case for independence within the EU for Scotland is not primarily based on the kind of wounded resentment embodied in toxic English nationalism (sadly), but substantially on a positive, welcoming vision of Scotland as an equal partner among nations, open to others and capable of offering and receiving goods to the world both on its own terms and in negotiation with others. That matters because what we call nationalism can either be mostly internationalist and inclusive in its impulse (Gandhi, Mandela) or it can be mostly mean, malevolent and exclusive (Oban, Trump, Bolsonaro). Brexit falls largely into the latter camp. That is why it is, at the end of the day, so tragic and dangerous (and contrary to the interests of many who voted for it the first time), as Fintan O'Toole points out.

@denisdaly1708 4 жыл бұрын

Well said.

@stephencarrington8553 5 жыл бұрын

Truly excellent and balanced explanation. Congratulations Fintan

@gehdbdnsidhdhd765 4 жыл бұрын

Stephen Carrington This was about as “Balanced” as a lone fat-man on a see-saw. All from a remainders point of view and a pretend knowledge of why Britain left the EU.

@dimitrisgikas8039 5 жыл бұрын

Absolutely remarkable!

@thumbprint7150 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you, very interesting. Glad to hear his comments on the influence of the insidious Murdoch press.

@minehaus6802 5 жыл бұрын

Please can somebody tell me what is ist about or give me a short summary .what is the problem??? I have an exam tomorrow about that video but it is very hard to understand since I am not in an English speaking country

@markshirley01 5 жыл бұрын

As an Englishman born from a Irish family I have always had a outsiders view of my own country. This is an excellent appraisal of Brexit and English nationalism. I now think we need a hard Brexit to show the damage it will cause and finally end the argument of our participation in the EU. Hopefully we will then rejoin and this nightmare will end.

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

But no more special bargains as Thatcher once could squeeze out. Hard to imagine it happening.

@baronvonlimbourgh1716 5 жыл бұрын

@@TheMrSirCharles don't count on it.

@geoffrodgers6532 5 жыл бұрын

As a fellow Englishman from Irish stock, I think your talking absolute bollocks. Your slagging of the English for wanting to take back control of there country, when Ireland fought the English for the very same thing not to far back in history. Unlike you, and many others in Ireland if this thread is anything to go by, I am not still bitter twisted towards the English. I think they should leave with no deal and never look back.

@GerLeahy 5 жыл бұрын

@Repeat After Me: Sabbotage the economy? British business leaders are curently detailing and planning for the preofoundly negative effect Brexit will have on their businesses. Why would some of the biggest companies in Britain want to sabotage the economy?

@GerLeahy 5 жыл бұрын

@@geoffrodgers6532 Are you compairing Irish indepencdece from Britain to Brexit? 70 years prior to the Irish war of independance Britain presided over the death of a million people in the Irish famine, whilst exporting Irish food surplaces out of the country. Can you detail which attrocity the EU has commited againt Britain which compares? British law states that the Bitish parliamnet is sovern. It was even confirmed in parliment last year.

@Davidiona 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you Fintan for such clarity and brilliant overview of the plight we are in.I hope Mrs May gets to see this and finds the steel to tell us like it is and no holds barred.

@ianspencer2826 4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely brilliant.....hits the nail on the head on all points.

@patrickdear911 5 жыл бұрын

An excellent summary of the problems surrounding Brexit and the historical reasons for it. He outlines with authority and humour the reasons for the complicated situation the UK is in. He also articulates clearly the real anxieties of the Irish people and the importance of protecting the Good Friday agreement.

@tiptreechoralsociety7358 5 жыл бұрын

Amazing, wonderful to see such open-minded and comprehensive analysis

@XLseattle 4 жыл бұрын

And the Nissan plant did close to the loss of 3000 jobs in a pro-Bretix Sunderland.

@nikoladd 5 жыл бұрын

Great analysis on the English nationalism effect! Spot on!

@christopherkealy730 5 жыл бұрын

Typical irish boy having à go at the english. How many inhabitants of NI would really vote to join Eire if Eire is in thé Euro ? How many inhabitants of Eire would want à bad northern lodger inside théir 32-county paradise.

@jamesdolan4042 5 жыл бұрын

@@christopherkealy730That is an extremely condescending comment. In my opinion it was the extroardinary growth of the Irish economy in the 1990's together with the new openness in society that was a major defining factor in declining IRA militarism and the emergent of moderate Uninionism the led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998.

@ezajurrahman9421 5 жыл бұрын

Clear, efficient, relevant, inclusive, informed and generous. Excellent! Bravo!

@Badgerapple 4 жыл бұрын

To have a second referendum on the same subject, before the first has been implemented, is profoundly undemocratic and would destroy faith in the parliamentary system.

@marcelokristian6591 5 жыл бұрын

This guy is simply brilliant, very acurate view of BREXIT

@gehdbdnsidhdhd765 4 жыл бұрын

Marcelo Kristian Form a remainders point of view

@kyrlacton1957 5 жыл бұрын

Probably the best analysis of the Brexit conundrum

@pastorwademorris2492 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your patient explanation of Brexit

@richardtrussell8220 5 жыл бұрын

This should be shown on all out TV channels, non stop, for a whole day! Maybe, just maybe, after that we may see some sense.

@edcleasby1120 5 жыл бұрын

I've waited a long time for such a clear and concise explanation of brexit and related issues. The pity is that it's had such limited coverage ... I'd even suggest it should be required listening delivered to all MP's and .... Nigel Farage. Such a change to hear someone actually says things clearly ... contrast it with the drivel that comes forth from the mouths of politicians.

@pax2902 5 жыл бұрын

Wonderful presentation by Fintan O'Toole: informative, enlightening, insightful!

@herrgoldmann2562 4 жыл бұрын

Very nice interviewer ! She lets her guests speak without interrupting at all.

@neweric917 5 жыл бұрын

It is the English problem, not the Irish question.

@GerLeahy 5 жыл бұрын

"The Irish question" is a reference to the Irish Home Rule Party's influence on the forming of successive British goverments in the late 19th century.

@leonjfborges 5 жыл бұрын

Topical Brexitiers talk. If someone fact check it's a EEU puppet, bought by Germany, traitor etc. Take your head out of the sand.

@GerLeahy 5 жыл бұрын

@stephen morris You mean British legal commitments to the Good Friday Agreement are England's problem.

@Pkia-tm7gw 5 жыл бұрын

A must listen! Excellent!

@Somersetman100 5 жыл бұрын

He's good. Why couldn't have media exposed the sort of nonsense Johnson wrote. If one reads the comments on the Telegraph, one finds lots of people want him as Prime Minister. I despair.

@baronvonlimbourgh1716 5 жыл бұрын

He, much like trump, made the working class think he is their buddy.

@zapfanzapfan 4 жыл бұрын

And now he is...

@denisdaly1708 4 жыл бұрын

@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 exactly.

@janehale4402 5 жыл бұрын

A joy to listen to ,how I wish this analysis could be shown to all the British public ,if only Mrs May would listen to his sound advice and we could read more of his fine journalism in Britain.

@liammccann8763 5 жыл бұрын

Wonderfully tender insight delivered with charm. Well done Fintan for observing that English folk do not have their own Parliament. I'm an Irish nationalist that has resided in England for 30 years; I very much doubt Brexit will change anything and that is a shame for the people of England. Ne Timeas.

@henricolens 5 жыл бұрын

Finally we have a comprehensive, factually accurate and perceptive analysis of the consequences of Brexit. I highly recommend Mr. O’Toole’s book, which examines the psychological motivations that made the English fall for the ‘con’ that is Brexit. The absurd thing about it is, even now with a full understanding of the chaos and destruction that a no-deal Brexit will cause, that many English people are still under the nationalist spell!

@nautilusshell4969 5 жыл бұрын

To swimmad456 and R Wallace, I've listened to the whole of this interview and I don't understand what your problem with it acutally is. Fintan O'Toole gives a completely reasoned overview of the whole process with no 'sneering' whatsoever. Also, referendums are a way of life in Ireland, as Mr O'Toole outlined. I think you probably need to listen to it again to understand what he's saying.

@mickietinker7722 4 жыл бұрын

Are the Irish referendums ALWAYS acted upon? Or do you have as many as it takes to come up with the answer your govt/EU want. If it's the first, then you will understand why Leave voters are so angry that OUR vote has been ignored, if it's the latter it's a farce, why on earth would the Irish even bother voting in the first place?

@williamkeenan3680 5 жыл бұрын

spot on fintan

@blackamericanlesbianprofes4357 5 жыл бұрын

I see this shared in my newsfeed. Thank you for posting.

@willslingwood 5 жыл бұрын

Fintan your suit is lovely, really nice outfit. Had to be said.

@Patrick31154 5 жыл бұрын

Have over the last few years read his articles on Brexit. Excellent analyses.

@gehdbdnsidhdhd765 4 жыл бұрын

Vincent O'Shea No they’re not, they’re very biased (only look at it from a remainders point of view). He’s just an ordinary writer that spends time looking for fancy words in a thesaurus to try and make him sound smart.

@davidedbrooke9324 5 жыл бұрын

About the English reasserted themselves. It ok for other countries to love who they are?

@taintabird23 5 жыл бұрын

English nationalism is fairly incoherent at the moment, it is only clear what it is against. It is not clear what its 'for' just yet.

@christhornley1664 5 жыл бұрын

A clear and accurate analysis of Brexit discussed in a completely calm and rational manner, something which has been very sadly lacking in this whole sorry affair. Whatever those voting leave thought this could fulfil are going to be bitterly disappointed. Nothing positive can come from this situation whatsoever. It's one of the biggest mistakes this nation has made.

@brainshrub 5 жыл бұрын

Best detailed explanation of Brexit I've ever seen. Thank you.

@Blueridge39 5 жыл бұрын

At last I have been allowed to hear an informed talk on Brexit with which I totally agree. I may have missed the point but what was missing was the fact that leaving the EU will mean the break up of the United Kingdom at some not too distant future date beginning with Scotland, then Wales and then Ireland reuniting then leaving the UK. It is time for Jeremy Corbyn to grasp the nettle and come out in favour of staying in the EU as Mr O'Toole advocates rather than waiting for May to follow that course. She doesn't have the balls for it.

@smiggo1481 5 жыл бұрын

Why can the Irish, Scottish and Welsh 'untwine' but the English cannot?

@mackmccormack2670 5 жыл бұрын

That was grand Mr O’ Toole & spot on.

@topsyfulwell 5 жыл бұрын

The best discussion I've come across so far.

@armstronggermany2995 5 жыл бұрын

In 1994 I went to Normandy to pay my respects to the allied sacrifice fifty years previously to free Europe from the Germans. We stopped overnight in Albertville in Belgium and at dinner that night in the hotel I asked a couple of other guests at the next table if they were British. The response shocked me. The man said No we are not British, we are English. As a Scot and a Briton I found it to be insulting given the huge Scots losses especially at that very location in WW1.

@redf7209 4 жыл бұрын

Scottish nationalists might do the same thing. Strangely it's the English right who don't agree with Scottish devolution, pushing the idea that Scotland is being given too much and subsidized by the English. This is morphing into hate of Scotland for frustrating Tory laws in England. You Scots are rightly abashed at this and are turning to independence. The southern English cant see that every word that comes out of a Tory mouth creates more votes for independence. As an Englishman in the North I can't see why any Scotsman wouldn't hate the English and want independence.The word English in fact is beginning to mean to me someone whos a fatcat nazi sleazy Tory in the south east, who oppresses the rest of the country, nothing to do with me. I 'd rather be Scottish

@michalialambeis4466 5 жыл бұрын

Realy good talk. Thx for uploading

@billybobobenner 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant exposition on Brexit by Mr O'Toole.

@MadTamB 5 жыл бұрын

I hope that Ireland soon isn't the only English-speaking member soon. I hope Scotland joins.

@burrenmagic 5 жыл бұрын

we too

@Anon-xd3cf 5 жыл бұрын

And Wales too... IMO we could just cut England out of the equation... I mean they are the ones always banging on about how a hard border between the republic and the north of Ireland wouldn't be a big deal...we could just put one on the Welsh and Scottish borders.

@henryvagincourt 5 жыл бұрын

MadTamB+ Never happen, Spain with block that for sure.

@Francisco_CS 5 жыл бұрын

@@henryvagincourt not if Scotland is an independent state... why would Spain block an independent country to join? it wouldn't be the same as Catalonia... And Spain would have to deal with the pressure from the rest of the European countries

@prof-dx8gt 5 жыл бұрын

In wales we voted to leave in greater numbers than England, allso Scotland and Wales would go bust if outside the UK.

@ianpritchard6375 5 жыл бұрын

Fantastic explanation. Thank you! How the heck can 66 people not 'like' this? Some people clearly don't like the truth.

@Sorenzo 5 жыл бұрын

I think the Europeans, we Danes included, know more about the Northern Irish conflict than they do about the Irish as a people. I think that's part of why the conflict is foremost in the minds of European leaders when we're discussing anything Irish.

@yuccatree4298 4 жыл бұрын

@Emil Sørensen Just having seen this, I'd like to say, as an Irish person myself - Well said, sir

@3highland 5 жыл бұрын

Brilliant Fintan O’Toole - today as the catastrophe avalanches down the British / English mountain exposing all the rubble, rocks, rubbish we’ve been fed for 2 + years.. his comments hold up. Great history and lively commentary add to making this a must listen/watch.

@michaellowe7194 5 жыл бұрын

With a few exceptions, why are all the most intelligent commentaries on this delivered with an Irish accent.? When you look at Simon Coventry, is the best we could come up with, with 20 times the population, really Boris Johnstone?

@taintabird23 5 жыл бұрын

As an Irishman, I appreciate your comment. I would like to suggest an answer to your question 'why are all the most intelligent commentaries on this delivered with an Irish accent?' In Ireland, our requirement to have a referendum every time we adopt a new EU treaty means that we are forced to pay attention to the EU. We know and understand the EU better than English people, who don't get it at all. It has the added benefit of leaving Irish people with a sense of ownership of our membership. Before we, the Irish, joined the EU in 1973, for the previous 50 years we are had the type of independence that the UK is now seeking. We know the limitations of going it alone in the world, its and outdated form of independence that belongs to the early 20th century and only okay if you like being poor. It is also somewhat of an illusion - as a small country will always have to give way to a bigger country in trade negotiations...in this case the EU will always dominate the UK. We are never completely free, independent or sovereign. In short, we know how deluded the aspirations of JRM, BoJo and IDS and others are. I wish you well.

@victorcheck 5 жыл бұрын

LOL ! I'm sure our Tanaiste, Simon Coveny, will forgive the that little 'typo' Auto-correct perhaps ?

@paulbergin5903 5 жыл бұрын

Taint ABird well said pal great comments made there.

@Faucies 5 жыл бұрын

Grateful for the clarity and lucidity of O'Toole's narrative.

@johnnywhite58 5 жыл бұрын

so true !

@paddyboy3338 5 жыл бұрын

One of the few views on Brexit I could watch to the end. Quite insightful.

@diogonascimento1720 5 жыл бұрын

i know it is a serious subject and i find everything said here of immense knowledge but i could't stop laughing at 21:31 with "the finger".

@fudgeweasel 5 жыл бұрын

The sad thing is that there ARE politicians standing up and making the pragmatic speeches he talks about here - but UK 'democracy' is so broken that it doesn't matter. Theresa May and her Tories are committed to brexit, no matter how ruinous - as are the 'opposition', because Corbyn has never been a fan of the EU. Forcing a direction change would take more than just pragmatic thinking - it would take people listening to and trusting that thinking, and forcing May and Corbyn to act on it. That will never happen, however, because the pragmatism and good sense is coming from Plaid Cymru and the SNP, and the BBC and other media sources in the UK will never allow those voices to be anything other than "vile separatists" who want to destroy Brave England's glory. It is all too easy for May to simply ignore good sense from Nicola Sturgeon, ignore all evidence, and ignore reality, when she has no compelling reason to do otherwise. The people of the UK are helpless to force change, since Westminster assumes all sovereignty, and, essentially, May is the supreme ruler and sole arbiter of all decisions right now. And Arlene Foster of the DUP - a racist, bigotted, backwards zealot - is May's puppeteer. The people are stuck with whatever Arlene Foster tells May to do, unless someone in May's own party, who wants an even worse brexit than Foster does, overthrows her. It's insane. Scots, however, have their own sovereignty - and they have a way out if they choose to use it.

@celticlofts 5 жыл бұрын

Isn't it a bit ironical that the Prime Minister, who was a Remain supporter now has to deal with Brexit while Corbyn who is pro-brexit might end up keeping the UK in the EU if demands for a second referendum becomes part of Labours election campaign manifesto . That's how messed up this is.

@gloin10 5 жыл бұрын

@ "The sad thing is that there ARE politicians standing up and making the pragmatic speeches he talks about here..."? Can you name ONE in England, or Westminster? The reality, as you pointed out, "...is that there ARE politicians standing up and making the pragmatic speeches he talks about here...", but they are in Scotland and Wales. England, on all available evidence, has become the world's largest outdoor insane asylum....

@jamiemartinwebb 5 жыл бұрын

Yes its called democracy you know. It was a democratic decision made by the British people. It doesn't matter what the government thinks, they are there to serve the people and need to get on and make it happen..

@BigHenFor 5 жыл бұрын

@@jamiemartinwebb No; it's collective cognitive dissonance. Self-harm is not a sign of a sound collective consciousness. Especially self-harm that doesn't really identify or mitigate the causes of the country needing to feel better about itself.

@TheMrSirCharles 5 жыл бұрын

"My heart says leave. My mind tells me to remain." That's about the Brexit in a nutshell. And the heart has been filled with misinformation.

@mesrobvartavarian2914 5 жыл бұрын

That was spot on. Bravo Fintan, you were rational, insightful, and humane all at the same time. Irishmen are the greatest wielders of the English language. Another great irony of the modern world....

@FannyShmellar 4 жыл бұрын

Never heard as much nonsense in all my life

@davidwright8432 5 жыл бұрын

Very many thanks. Clear, thoughtful, accurate, comprehensive - and kind! What planet did you say he was from?

@philmarsh1000 5 жыл бұрын

41:00 'at the very latest December, and even then that's really pushing it" ... and here we are in early February

@alanthorpe6835 4 жыл бұрын

... and now in early October - a whole year further on, only three weeks away from B-Day and we are still essentially no nearer to the definitive answers that Fintan alluded to. Pathetic, on so many levels.