The Brexit Effect? Ethno-National Divisions on the Island of Ireland among Political Elites and the Youth

The status of Northern Ireland has been at the heart of the Brexit impasse. Using semi-structured interviews of political elites and an original survey experiment administered to young people on both sides of the Irish border (N = 771), this study analyzes Brexit’s impact on identities and territorial attachments on the island of Ireland. The results demonstrate that political elites perceived that Brexit had greatly exacerbated intergroup tensions; whereas the survey experiment only identified a significant influence of Brexit on territorial attachment in the Republic of Ireland, and no significant effect of Brexit on attitudes was measured in Northern Ireland.