Theresa May agrees to no 'hard border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic post-Brexit

Chloe Chaplain27 July 2016

There will be no “hard border” separating Northern Ireland from the Republic when the UK leaves the European Union.

Theresa May also vowed to maintain "the closest possible relationship" between the UK and the Republic following Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May and leader of the Republic of Ireland, Taoiseach Enda Kenny agreed against creating a post-Brexit string of customs posts across the island during talks today.

Outside Downing Street Mr Kenny insisted he had come to an agreement with Mrs May and said: "I do not favour, and would not agree to, a hard border with a whole range of customs posts, and neither does the prime minister.

REUTERS/Stefan Rousseau/Pool

"There will be no hard border from Dundalk to Derry in the context of it being a European border, and by that I mean customs posts every mile along the road.

"We are both agreed very firmly there will be no return to a hard border as existed," Mr Kenny said to reporters outside Number Ten following the meeting.

Mrs May agreed there was a "strong will" to preserve free travel across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic and suggested this could involve a common approach to the use of data on passengers arriving from outside the British Isles.

"I recognise that one of the biggest concerns for people is the common travel area. We benefited from a common travel area between the UK and the Republic of Ireland for many years before either country was a member of the EU.

British Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a statement to the press along side Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny (out of picture)
EPA

"There is a strong will on both sides to preserve it and so we must now focus on securing a deal that is in the interests of both of us.

"Alongside this, we should continue our efforts to strengthen the external borders of the common travel area; for example, through a common approach to the use of passenger data."

The outcome of last month's Brexit referendum will not undermine the peace process in Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister insisted.

Mrs May said: "It is in all our interests to work together to safeguard our national security and the outcome of the referendum will not undermine it.

"We are both fully committed to working together in support of the Northern Ireland Executive to build a better, stronger, safer future for the people of Northern Ireland.

"Indeed, it is vital that we keep up the momentum on tackling paramilitary groups and building a shared future.

"And today we have reaffirmed our commitment to establishing a new Independent Reporting Commission by the end of this year, which will support these efforts."

At the joint briefing, Mr Kenny said: "We both recognised that Ireland is the only EU member state that shares a land border with the UK.

"We are in agreement that we don't wish to see any return to the borders of the past on the island of Ireland."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in