AFTER three years of divisive uncertainty, the final nod on an 11th hour Brexit deal agreed between the UK and the EU this week, hangs in the balance pending the outcome of a crucial vote in Westminister this evening (Saturday).

The historic vote will either seal or scupper the deal negotiated between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar amid the full backing of the 27 member states on Thursday.

The Taoiseach said the deal avoided a hard border here, protected the all-Ireland economy and preserved the Belfast Agreement.

Monday’s Horse Sport Ireland ‘No Deal’ Brexit Seminar heard from a panel of experts in the financial and customs areas as well as officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine who gave a comprehensive – and at times, fairly grim – outline of what will be facing the Irish equine sector, should there be no deal. (See Brexit seminar coverage on pages 104-105).

The European Council unanimously agreed a deal on Thursday which crucially will see no hard border on the island of Ireland, effectively moving the customs border to the middle of the Irish Sea.

The deal, which is the 600-page deal engineered by former British PM Theresa May – but now with six agreed amendments – allows Johnson to take the UK out of EU by midnight on October 31st.

The last 48 hours have triggered an enormous drive by Johnson’s political aides to muster the necessary votes to now get the deal through the House of Commons this evening.

“It has been long, it has been painful, it has been divisive. Now this is the moment for our parliamentarians to come together and get this thing done,” Boris Johnson told reporters on Thursday.

With the DUP coming out against the deal on Thursday evening, the lobbying for the vote numbers game is going on furiously across all spectrums of the UK political scene including Conservative MPs, Labour MPs and hard-line Brexiteers.

If the numbers don’t stack up tonight, Boris Johnson is legally obliged to seek an extension on the October 31st deadline and a UK general election would most likely follow, possibly even opening the door to a second referendum on Brexit.

If passed in Westminister, the deal then goes on to the European Parliament for ratification.

Key points of deal

The new deal makes provision for a new “protocol’’ which replaces the backstop.

Technically Northern Ireland will leave the EU customs union along with the rest of the UK.

However, Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU regulation on goods and be subject to EU customs rules.

Northern Ireland will be subject to the oversight of EU authorities including the European Court of Justice.

EU law will apply on VAT and excise in Northern Ireland to protect the integrity of the single EU market.

Regulatory and customs checks and controls would take place at ports on the Irish Sea on goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland.

Under the deal, the UK would collect tariffs for the EU on goods heading into Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland would be allowed to claim refunds on the difference on tariffs if the goods remain in the north or are re-exported back into the UK.

The north would be allowed benefit from other trade deals that the UK might enter into, by offsetting any tariff differences.

The Stormont Assembly will be granted a simple majority vote, (not a veto), on the new arrangements every four years, starting from 2024.