Jordan Bardella of France's Rassemblement National party, which polls suggest will succeed in the upcoming election. Photograph: Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Imageswill elect a new government; and on Sunday July 7th the French second round takes place. By the time the votes are counted the politics of our nearest neighbour and our nearest EU neighbour will be transformed. Ireland cannot but be affected.
“Overall, it is hard to find a comparable period in history of a Conservative, or other, government which achieved so little or which left the country at its conclusion in a more troubling state,” the book concludes.Two notices pinned up in a country pub offer an insight into the paradox of Eamon Ryan, the Labour leader, who will win a thumping majority.
Labour has pledged to repeal the controversial Northern Ireland legacy bill, which has been challenged in the European Court of Human Rights by the Irish Government. Despite the fevered hopes of some united Irelanders, Starmer – an avowed supporter of the union – will not call a Border poll. But he might, eventually, say what the specific conditions are for one. Irish and British officials would settle for a renewal of the close relations and productive co-operation of the past.