Tony Blair has accepted that Britain and Ireland will have to work around rather than reverse Brexit in order to prevent a hard border on the island and preserve the Good Friday agreement.

While stressing he was still “passionately opposed” to Brexit and regarded the UK leaving the EU as a “profound mistake”, the former prime minister said that the two countries would have to “overcome the challenge” posed by the British departure from Europe.

Speaking at an event in Belfast on Tuesday to mark 20 years since the signing of the Good Friday agreement peace accord, Blair said it was essential to avoid the disaster of a hard border reappearing on the island post-Brexit.

On the challenges Brexit will pose for Ireland, Blair said: “We are just going to have to work at it [Brexit] and overcome it. I wish it wasn’t happening but it is and we are just going to do our best to circumvent it.”

He also urged the current generation of Northern Ireland’s political leaders “not to cast aside” the gains of the Good Friday agreement peace deal.

Commenting on the present deadlock between unionism and nationalism in Northern Ireland, Blair said: “Where we are may not be where we want to be but it’s a much better place from where we were.

“This is the most important thing I would say right now to those people today who are in positions of responsibility: try to work your way through the present impasse, give it your all, start working at it, don’t ever give up because what you are doing is vital, it is important.”

There was discord even within the Irish nationalist representatives at the conference to commemorate 20 years of the agreement. Adams confirmed that Sinn Féin wanted a “border poll” on a united Ireland.

Seamus Mallon, the former Social Democratic and Labour party deputy leader and former deputy first minister, said calls for a referendum on Irish unity posed dangers.

Mallon said it would be a “bloody disaster” if any referendum on a united Ireland could be won by a simple majority of 50% plus 1.

In such a scenario, Mallon warned, Ireland would inherit a fearful, recalcitrant large unionist minority on the island.

Disaster-recovery expert Ken Topping and other members of the Cambria FireSafe Focus Group want all North Coast residents to be completely informed and ready for any catastrophe.

In three previous informational forums this year, the Focus Group has addressed a host of do-and-don’t readiness issues.

The group is hosting a fourth session from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, at the Veterans Memorial Building, 1000 Main St.

Topping (a former general manager of the Cambria Community Services District) will discuss more about preventing disaster losses and recovering after the catastrophe.

“Prevention and recovery are two sides of the same coin,” Topping said. “The more you prepare in an effort to prevent losses, the less difficult it will be to recover and get back on track after the disaster.”

He’ll also ask attendees for their questions about preparing themselves, their homes and their community for fire, flood, earthquake, landslides and other disasters, as well as about governmental rules that may need tweaking.

“We need to know where the gaps and overlaps are that make prevention a less effective crazy quilt,” Topping said in an April 9 phone interview. “I think there are a lot of holes, kind of like Swiss cheese.”

Cambrians have banded together in the past to advocate for change, including their successful campaign to temporarily remove the county permit fee for taking down trees deemed hazardous by Cal Fire. No healthy trees could be removed under this streamlined process.

At the forum, Topping and Focus Group members will answer any questions they can, and do research later to find answers to other queries, publicizing the responses later.

Those who have questions now can email them to group leader Shirley Bianchi at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Topping also will discuss the plan to form a VOAD group (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters) to help the community be more disaster-prepared. A sign-up sheet will be provided for people and organization that wish to participate in the VOAD process.

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