"The idea of going back to a hard border and the divisions, the rancour, the threats, the intimidation, the violence, the death, the slaughter of the past, is unimaginable to anybody who contemplates it for a moment and has a conscience."
House of Commons speaker John Bercow, famed for his theatrical delivery of the word "order" - more on that in a bit - has stated that no Brexit developments should threaten peace on the island of Ireland.
Bercow conducted his first ever Irish
interview with Ryan Tubridy on Friday night's episode of The Late Late Show, where he admitted that his recent spike in popularity owes a great deal to the ongoing Brexit fiasco.
Asked how he thinks that matter will play out, Bercow proved candid enough.
"I think anyone who says with complete confidence, or even much conviction; 'I know what's going to happen' is either an extraordinarily clever person, or a raging fool," he began.
"Because it's all so unpredictable, the vicissitudes of fortune. One day to the next it changes. There are terrible periods of pessimism and then all of a sudden people are upbeat and they are saying there is going to be a deal. I don't know whether there will be or not."
With conversation turning to Ireland's role in proceedings, Bercow, who noted that he considers himself a European, spoke plain and true.
"To me, the peace that has been established in Ireland is absolutely precious, but it might be fragile and nothing on earth should be allowed to threaten or impede the continuation of that peace," he said.
"What was achieved by John Major, Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair; the Good Friday Agreement is one of the most remarkable accomplishments of statesmanship. You can't lose that.
"You cannot risk losing that and the idea of going back to some sort of hard border and the divisions, the rancour, the threats, the intimidation, the violence, the death, the slaughter of the past, is, I think, unimaginable to anybody who contemplates it for a moment and has a conscience."
As for slightly less serious business, yes, Tubridy had Bercow run through a bunch of "order!" variations for the audience.
You can check that out below, if you're so inclined...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHE1uM_NF4Y
Clip via The Late Late Show
