I disagree. The Single Market is what is very hard to get out of without a hard border on the Irish border. Customs documentation can be addressed away from the border and is potentially fixed with technology, but the necessity of physical checks for standards conformance that cannot be fudged is the real problem.

Right, though technically the EU insists on a border, not the UK.

One of the main pillars of Brexit voters was immigration control.

So, we're going to ruin the entire country to get immigration controls (and destroy trade, and cut ourselves off politically, socially, and from the scientific communities, and...) then just leave the border open?

That's like burning down your luxury rental accommodation because you don't like that exact shade of wallpaper, then moving in to a hovel with graffiti on the walls.

Crossing a legal border physically doesn't give you the right to be there, and work, receive benefits, etc.

So anti-Immigration Brexiteers don't mind illegal aliens?

I doubt that.

A border will do nothing against illegal EU immigration. I doubt any brexit scenario will result in EU nationals requiring a visa to enter the UK (for short term stays). A border is not what will prevent them from overstaying.

Well, nothing is stopping the Republic of Ireland from following the UK. The EU can't even really do anything about it without starting a war, so a sudden surprise exit is entirely possible. This would solve the border issue.

Things would have been much less messy if Brexit had been implemented as a split of the EU, with the UK and Republic of Ireland running their own little 2-member EU government. Scotland could then be allowed to do their split from the UK while remaining in the mini-EU.

Ireland doesn't want to leave the EU. It's entire economy is based on EU membership. And they fought a war of independence in the 1920s specifically to avoid being in a 'mini union' with the UK. This kind of 'it would be easier if everyone did our bidding' thinking is one of the reasons exit negotiations with the EU have gone so badly.

The 'war', if it happens, would be a restart of the intractable civil kind among the various NI groups, not EU vs us.

I think Republic of Ireland not wanting to leave is "stopping them". They're much more integrated into Europe than the UK too. Have the euro for example.

Are you English? The sheer ignorance in this response suggest so.

Ireland is a Soverign Country. England made its choice, and now has to live with it. The empire is gone.

Well, that is the EUs problem, not the UKs.

Neither the UK or Ireland will ever ever be the ones the enforce the hard border.

It would have to be the EU enforcing it, if that is what their trade deals demanded. And I sincerely doubt that the EU would be happy with the consequences of them stationing troops on that border.

Both the UK and Ireland have stated that they will not be enforcing a hard border.

I thought immigration was one of the issues that was driving Brexit. How can they control immigration from the EU if they don't have border enforcement? There is something I'm missing here.

Make people fill out proof-of-right-to-work-in-the-country paperwork when they get employed and proof-of-right-to-live-in-the-country paperwork when they rent or buy housing. That's essentially what most countries do. Border security is definitely helpful--especially if you want to deter outright criminals from trafficking drugs and human beings--but it's not sufficient, because if you enter the country on a time-limited visa and your visa expires, you still need a mechanism for that.

Literally not enforcing the Irish border and relying on everyone having their paperwork in order when they deliver truckloads of goods or apply for jobs or whatever isn't a completely insane idea. There's a moderate risk of UK tariffs and trade barriers being circumvented by people smuggling Czech stereo systems across the Irish border in an unmarked van and selling them on the streets of Liverpool, but maybe that's okay.

The penalties for failing to enforce border checks (in the absence of a trade deal) would be severe.

On the end both sides want control over what's entering their country.

If the EU started allowing shady companies to export whatever tainted foodstuff they happen to have into the UK, we'd see English soldiers at the border real quick.