# BorderIrish

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/BorderIrish
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/BorderIrish.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BorderIrish
> Source revision: 1341024601
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Pseudonymous satirical author

BorderIrish Map of Northern Ireland and the border Genre Satire Subject Irish border Years active 2018–2020 Notable works I Am the Border, So I Am (2019) Website twitter.com/BorderIrish

**BorderIrish** or **@BorderIrish** was the [pseudonym](/source/Pseudonym) of an anonymous satirical author, resident on the [island of Ireland](/source/Island_of_Ireland), who from 2018 to 2020 wrote in the first person about being the 97-year-old 499 km (310 mi) [Irish border](/source/Irish_border) between the [Republic of Ireland](/source/Republic_of_Ireland) and [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland) (i.e. an [anthropomorphism](/source/Anthropomorphism)), both on [Twitter](/source/Twitter) as @BorderIrish and in print with *I Am the Border, So I Am* (2019);[1] and in particular on the implications of [Brexit](/source/Brexit) on the Irish land border.[2][3][4][5]

## Authorship

The author first began posting satirical tweets as the Irish border in February 2018, tweeting "I'm seamless and frictionless already, thanks. Bit scared of physical infrastructure. Don't like the sea".[6][7] In a December 2018 interview with Austrian newspaper *[Wiener Zeitung](/source/Wiener_Zeitung)*, BorderIrish said (as the border): "I had retired and spent the past 20 years watching the sheep and the clouds. Everyone had forgotten me, but then Brexit came and suddenly journalists were looking for me and politicians were talking nonsense about me, so I decided to make me heard".[5]

In a December 2018 interview with *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)* (both as the author, and as the border), the author identified as male, and said he had lived on both sides of the border;[3] however, he has not clarified any other facts regarding his identity, and speaks through his agents.[8][9]

The author has been interviewed as his pseudonym, both by Irish and British media[6][10][3] and by media from the European continent;[7][5] and his satirical tweets as the Irish border have been discussed in wider media coverage on Brexit.[11][12][13]

In January 2019, the Twitter account of Irish [taoiseach](/source/Taoiseach) [Leo Varadkar](/source/Leo_Varadkar) was noted as a follower of @BorderIrish;[14][11][5] other notable followers of @BorderIrish include [Robert Peston](/source/Robert_Peston) and [Alastair Campbell](/source/Alastair_Campbell).[9]

On 31 January 2020, as the United Kingdom left the European Union, BorderIrish announced that he was retiring his Twitter account telling *The Irish Times*: "It feels like I won the battle and lost the war"; and signing off his Twitter account with "I was the Border, so I was".[15]

## Works

In October 2019, BorderIrish released a book titled *I Am the Border, So I Am*,[1] which was favourably reviewed,[16][17][18] and described by [Fintan O'Toole](/source/Fintan_O'Toole) as "among the best satires of the Brexit era",[19] and listed by [Alex Clark](/source/Alex_Clark_(journalist)) in the *[Financial Times](/source/Financial_Times)* "Best audiobooks of 2019".[20]

## Bibliography

- BorderIrish (31 October 2019). [*I Am the Border, So I Am*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0008356998/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0). [HarperCollins](/source/HarperCollins). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-00-835699-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-00-835699-6).

## See also

- [Brexit and the Irish border](/source/Brexit_and_the_Irish_border)

- [Brexit in popular culture](/source/Brexit_in_popular_culture)

- [Twitterature](/source/Twitterature)

- [Led By Donkeys](/source/Led_By_Donkeys)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-book_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-book_1-1) BorderIrish (31 October 2019). [*I Am the Border, So I Am*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0008356998/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0). [HarperCollins](/source/HarperCollins). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-00-835699-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-00-835699-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-guar_2-0)** Rory Carroll (24 November 2018). ["Brexit: anonymous Twitter account gives droll voice to Irish border row"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/24/brexit-anonymous-twitter-account-gives-droll-voice-to-irish-border-row). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BBC_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BBC_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-BBC_3-2) Meabh Ritchie (7 December 2018). ["The Irish border and Brexit explained by @BorderIrish"](https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46459904). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019. The man behind the account, who wants to remain anonymous, has lived on both sides of the Irish border.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-lemonde_4-0)** Julien Marsault (13 November 2019). ["Sur Twitter, l'humour sans limite de " The Irish Border ""](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-le-mag/article/2019/11/13/sur-twitter-l-humour-sans-limite-de-the-irish-border_6019009_4500055.html) [On Twitter, the boundless humor of "The Irish Border"]. *[Le Monde](/source/Le_Monde)* (in French). Retrieved 26 December 2019. Les Monty Python n'auraient pas renié le compte @BorderIrish qui s'exprime sur le Brexit au nom de la ligne, presque invisible, qui sépare les deux Irlandes. [Monty Python would not have surpassed the humour of the twitter account @BorderIrish, which expresses the effect of Brexit on the almost invisible line which separates the two Irelands.]

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-wiener_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-wiener_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-wiener_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-wiener_5-3) Siobhán Geets (6 December 2018). ["Die irische Grenze schlägt zurück: Ein anonymer Twitter-Account bringt Schwung in die endlose Brexit-Debatte"](https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/europa/1006574_Die-irische-Grenze-schlaegt-zurueck.html) [The Irish Border strikes back: An anonymous Twitter account boosts the endless Brexit debate]. *[Wiener Zeitung](/source/Wiener_Zeitung)* (in German). Retrieved 27 December 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-IT1_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-IT1_6-1) Freya McClements (24 February 2018). ["The Border has decided it's time to go public"](https://web.archive.org/web/20210413212741/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/the-border-has-decided-it-s-time-to-go-public-1.3403228?mode=amp). *[Irish Times](/source/Irish_Times)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/the-border-has-decided-it-s-time-to-go-public-1.3403228%3fmode=amp) on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-tageblatt_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-tageblatt_7-1) Armand Back (26 October 2018). ["Alle reden über sie, jetzt ergreift sie selbst das Wort: Das 'Tageblatt'-Interview mit der Irischen Grenze"](http://www.tageblatt.lu/headlines/alle-reden-ueber-sie-jetzt-ergreift-sie-selbst-das-wort-tageblatt-interview-mit-der-irischen-grenze/) [Everyone talks about her, now she takes the floor herself: The *Tageblatt* interview with the Irish border]. *[Tageblatt](/source/Tageblatt)*. Retrieved 27 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["@BorderIrish"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191230163153/http://www.caskiemushens.com/borderirish). *Caskie Mushens*. Archived from [the original](http://www.caskiemushens.com/borderirish) on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bookseller_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bookseller_9-1) News Team (14 March 2019). ["HC crosses the line with Border buy"](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hc-crosses-line-border-buy-972936#). *[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)*. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-IrishTimes_10-0)** Patrick Freyne (26 October 2019). ["Are you crinkly or squiggly? And 19 other questions for the Irish Border"](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/are-you-crinkly-or-squiggly-and-19-other-questions-for-the-irish-border-1.4057969). *[Irish Times](/source/Irish_Times)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ST_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ST_11-1) Ed Dracott (2 January 2019). ["Twitter account aims to bridge divide over border"](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/twitter-account-aims-to-bridge-divide-over-border-h528jpbjq). *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)*. Retrieved 27 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Chris Johns (22 April 2018). ["The UK government has made Brexit promises it cannot keep"](https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/the-uk-government-has-made-brexit-promises-it-cannot-keep-1.3470067). *[The Irish Times](/source/The_Irish_Times)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Smiling stock photo actors used in post-Brexit immigration scheme advert"](https://news.sky.com/story/smiling-stock-photo-actors-used-in-post-brexit-immigration-scheme-advert-11593615). *[Sky News](/source/Sky_News)*. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Ed Dracott (1 January 2019). ["Meet The Brexit-bashing Twitter account followed by Leo Varadkar"](https://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/meet-the-brexitbashing-twitter-account-followed-by-leo-varadkar-37672433.html). *[Irish Independent](/source/Irish_Independent)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019. With Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and more than 66,000 other followers, The Irish Border – Twitter handle @BorderIrish – trolled the Brexit process throughout 2018 with its brand of dry wit.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Freya McClements (31 January 2020). ["The Irish Border signs off Twitter: 'It feels like I won the battle and lost the war'"](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/the-irish-border-signs-off-twitter-it-feels-like-i-won-the-battle-and-lost-the-war-1.4156754). *[Irish Times](/source/Irish_Times)*. Retrieved 3 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Kathy Foley (15 December 2019). ["Book review: I Am the Border, So I Am, by @BorderIrish"](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/book-review-i-am-the-border-so-i-am-by-borderirish-8kggcwbz3). *[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Asa Bennett (10 December 2019). ["The best British politics books to buy for Christmas 2019"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/best-british-politics-books-buy-christmas-2019/). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Paula Shields (5 January 2020). ["'I Am the Border, So I Am': A satire that borders on the ridiculously funny"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200810024120/https://www.businesspost.ie/books/i-am-the-border-so-i-am-a-satire-that-borders-on-the-ridiculously-funny-f6a540f4). *[Business Post](/source/Business_Post)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.businesspost.ie/books/i-am-the-border-so-i-am-a-satire-that-borders-on-the-ridiculously-funny-f6a540f4) on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [Fintan O'Toole](/source/Fintan_O'Toole) (16 November 2019). ["Fintan O'Toole on Brexit satire: It would be funny if it wasn't so serious"](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/fintan-o-toole-on-brexit-satire-it-would-be-funny-if-it-wasn-t-so-serious-1.4080581?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fbooks%2Ffintan-o-toole-on-brexit-satire-it-would-be-funny-if-it-wasn-t-so-serious-1.4080581). *[Irish Times](/source/Irish_Times)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019. Books by @BorderIrish and Led By Donkeys are among the best satires of the Brexit era

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [Alex Clark](/source/Alex_Clark_(journalist)) (22 November 2019). ["Best books of 2019: Audiobooks"](https://www.ft.com/content/b290fdb6-0c10-11ea-b2d6-9bf4d1957a67). *[Financial Times](/source/Financial_Times)*. Retrieved 26 December 2019. What started life as a satirical Twitter account has slowly morphed into an insightful spotlight on the vagaries, complexities and historical importance of perhaps the most intractable and misunderstood aspects of Brexit.

## External links

- [BorderIrish](https://x.com/BorderIrish) on [X](/source/X_(social_network))

- [@BorderIrish: 22 Unmissable Tweets](https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2018/06/01/irish-border-twitter-brilliantly-trolling-brexit/), from British satirical website, [The Poke](/source/The_Poke) (June 2018)

v t e 2016 UK European Union Membership referendum and Brexit Renegotiation Referendum results Invocation of Article 50 Negotiations Withdrawal agreement Northern Ireland protocol Trade negotiation Trade and Cooperation Agreement Windsor Framework Timeline Referendum question "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?" Referendum legislation European Union Referendum Act 2015 Gibraltar European Union Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations 2016 The European Union Referendum (Conduct) Regulations 2016 Background Treaties Rome 1972 Accession Treaty Single European Act Maastricht Amsterdam Nice European Constitution Lisbon UK opt-outs from EU legislation Legislation European Communities Act 1972 Amendments: 1986 1993 1998 2002 2008 2011 European Economic Area Act 1993 Proposed bills European Union Bill 2004–05 European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) Bills European Union (Referendum) Bill 2013–14 Elections 2014 European Parliament election 2015 general election By-elections 2014 Clacton 2014 Heywood and Middleton 2014 Rochester and Strood Other UK accession 1973 EC enlargement UK membership 1975 EC membership referendum UK rebate Bruges speech No. No. No. Black Wednesday EEA Maastricht Rebels The European Union: In or Out Bloomberg speech Russian interference Balance of Competences Review 2015–16 renegotiation Euroscepticism in the UK Campaign Issues Opinion polling Endorsements Project Fear Unlawful campaigning allegations Brexit: The Movie Pro-EU leaflet Breaking Point (UKIP poster) Campaign organisations Remain Britain Stronger in Europe (official campaign) Labour In for Britain Leave Vote Leave (official campaign) Vote Leave bus Leave.EU BeLeave Grassroots Out Labour Leave Campaign for an Independent Britain The Freedom Association Better Off Out Get Britain Out Bruges Group Aftermath of referendum Political party leadership elections Conservative 2016 2019 Scottish, February 2020 Labour UKIP Opposition to Brexit Proposed second referendum People's Vote Petition to revoke Article 50 Led By Donkeys Bollocks to Brexit Elections 2017 local 2017 general 2018 local 2019 local 2019 European Parliament Brexit Party 2019 general By-elections 2016 Witney 2016 Richmond Park 2016 Sleaford and North Hykeham 2017 Copeland 2017 Stoke-on-Trent Central 2019 Peterborough 2019 Brecon and Radnorshire Other International reactions March to Leave Brexit Alliance Blue Collar Conservativism Brexit Party Independent Alliance for Reform Brexit process Miller I case Invocation of Article 50 Negotiations Brexit divorce bill 2017 2018 2019 Withdrawal agreement Parliamentary votes No-deal Brexit Operation Yellowhammer Prorogation of Parliament Miller II / Cherry case Trade negotiation between the UK and the EU Fish for finance EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Impact of Brexit and potential effects on Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland 2024 Northern Ireland Executive formation Brexit and the Irish border Northern Ireland Protocol proposed changes Irish Sea border Windsor Framework Other on Gibraltar on the EU Science and technology Economic effects EU–UK relations after Brexit Boriswave Brexit legislation White papers Brexit plan Repeal Bill plan Chequers plan Brexit withdrawal agreement plan Enacted Notification of Withdrawal Act 2017 Withdrawal Act 2018 (Gibraltar) Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018 Cooper–Letwin Act Benn Act Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020 (Gibraltar) Internal Market Act 2020 Future Relationship Act 2020 UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2020 Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 Proposed Terms of Withdrawal from EU (Referendum) Bills UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill 2018 European Union Withdrawal Agreement (Public Vote) Bill 2017–19 Related Brexit 50p coin Change Britain Change UK Chaos with Ed Miliband European Research Group "Enemies of the People" Leave Means Leave Led By Donkeys More United Northern Future Forum The New European Open Britain Proposed second Scottish independence referendum Reform UK Rue du Brexit Terminology (Glossary) Tufton Street United Ireland Voting pencil conspiracy theory Retained EU law 2017 Diane Abbott–David Davis controversy Media depictions Remainiacs (2017) Postcards from the 48% (2018) Not Tonight (2018) Brexit: The Uncivil War (2019) @BorderIrish (2018–2020) Category

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [BorderIrish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BorderIrish) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BorderIrish?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.