Northern Ireland\'s Stormy Past Haunts U.K. Efforts to Leave EU

Northern Ireland’s Stormy Past Haunts U.K. Efforts to Leave EU

Conflicting views in region over ties to U.K. complicate Brexit negotiators’ efforts to avoid establishing a physical border on island

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BELFAST—Charlie Butler’s misgivings with a proposal to let the European Union retain influence over Northern Ireland after the U.K. leaves the bloc helps explain why this region is proving the biggest stumbling block to a Brexit deal.

“Northern Ireland is part of the U.K.,” said the 65-year-old social club owner who was attending a memorial here to the victims of a 1993 bombing by the Irish Republican Army that killed his niece and grandniece. All of the U.K. must leave the bloc on the same terms, he argued. “Do you take...