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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/ireland-to-seek-special-status-to-keep-open-border-with-uk-amid-hard-brexit-fears
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| Ireland to seek special status to keep open border with UK amid 'hard Brexit' fears | Ireland to seek special status to keep open border with UK amid 'hard Brexit' fears |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An increasingly anxious Irish government is to apply to the EU for special status to prevent a hard border being re-established if the UK leaves the EU customs union, and insists on controlling the flow of European migrants. | An increasingly anxious Irish government is to apply to the EU for special status to prevent a hard border being re-established if the UK leaves the EU customs union, and insists on controlling the flow of European migrants. |
| Charles Flanagan, the Irish foreign minister, said the UK and Irish governments would seek special legal status for Ireland, even though an open border between Ireland and the UK would in theory be a route through which tens of thousands of EU citizens could travel to the UK. | |
| Martin McGuinness, the deputy first minister in Northern Ireland and Sinn Féin’s leader, spoke to David Davis, the UK’s Brexit minister, on Sunday, to discuss government plans after speeches at the Conservative conference revealed a cabinet leaning towards leaving both the EU single market and the customs union. | |
| McGuinness said the UK was facing a “head-on collision” with the EU over Brexit, and suggested Northern Ireland was likely to be “collateral damage”. | McGuinness said the UK was facing a “head-on collision” with the EU over Brexit, and suggested Northern Ireland was likely to be “collateral damage”. |
| The Irish government will announce on Tuesday that it is setting up a civic dialogue to be held in Dublin on 2 November involving political parties, business organisations and non-governmental organisations from Northern Ireland and the Republic. | |
| One aim will be to demonstrate to Brussels that Ireland deserves special legal status. | One aim will be to demonstrate to Brussels that Ireland deserves special legal status. |
| Flanagan stressed the need for Brexit negotiations to take account of the Good Friday agreement under which all citizens in the north are entitled to an Irish and therefore an EU passport. | Flanagan stressed the need for Brexit negotiations to take account of the Good Friday agreement under which all citizens in the north are entitled to an Irish and therefore an EU passport. |
| A legal challenge is being mounted on Tuesday in Belfast claiming that Brexit breaches the Good Friday agreement, and the Northern Ireland assembly must be consulted before the UK government starts Brexit talks with Brussels. | |
| About 56% of Northern Irish voters backed the remain camp in the 23 June referendum but some unionist-dominated areas supported leave. | |
| The Irish government has been trying to talk down the prospect of passport or border checks for those visiting Northern Ireland, but the emerging shape of UK government thinking, including the prospect of the UK leaving the EU customs union without any new trade agreement with the bloc, has created anxiety in Ireland. | The Irish government has been trying to talk down the prospect of passport or border checks for those visiting Northern Ireland, but the emerging shape of UK government thinking, including the prospect of the UK leaving the EU customs union without any new trade agreement with the bloc, has created anxiety in Ireland. |
| If the UK leaves the customs union, the EU could demand a hard border in Ireland to prevent goods flowing in and out of the EU from Northern Ireland without paying required tariffs or facing checks on rules of origin. | If the UK leaves the customs union, the EU could demand a hard border in Ireland to prevent goods flowing in and out of the EU from Northern Ireland without paying required tariffs or facing checks on rules of origin. |
| If the UK reverted to tariffs in line with World Trade Organisation rules, this could also spell serious trouble for agriculture in the north as tariffs are especially high for this sector. | If the UK reverted to tariffs in line with World Trade Organisation rules, this could also spell serious trouble for agriculture in the north as tariffs are especially high for this sector. |
| A “hard Brexit”, including a return to UK border controls, also makes it more likely that the common travel area between the Republic and the north will be abandoned, hitting the Northern Ireland economy and one of the main tenets of the peace process. | |
| Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, McGuinness said: “We have all been concerned for some time at the direction the government is going to take. It is very disturbing.” He predicted that the UK government’s demands in Europe will not be met, making it less likely that Brussels will let the current open border remain. | |
| The tone of speeches by leading Brexiters has also caused unease in Dublin, no matter how much the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, has insisted a deal can still be struck on maintaining a common travel area. | The tone of speeches by leading Brexiters has also caused unease in Dublin, no matter how much the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, has insisted a deal can still be struck on maintaining a common travel area. |
| Flanagan said he could not rule out a hard border, but has previously said he could not see how such a border could be enforceable. He admitted: “Ultimately, the matter of the border is a decision that won’t be determined by the UK and Irish governments, irrespective of how we feel about the issue, but this will be a matter for the remaining 27 EU countries, one of which of course will be Ireland.” | |
| Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister and a former European trade negotiator, has warned of the implications of leaving the customs union for the border. “Leaving will require the introduction of new controls [a hard border] between Northern Ireland and the Republic. There is no way round that.” That was also the position of the UK government during the referendum campaign. | Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister and a former European trade negotiator, has warned of the implications of leaving the customs union for the border. “Leaving will require the introduction of new controls [a hard border] between Northern Ireland and the Republic. There is no way round that.” That was also the position of the UK government during the referendum campaign. |
| If there were no EU-UK agreement on free trade in goods, there would be some British taxes on imports from Ireland, and vice versa. | If there were no EU-UK agreement on free trade in goods, there would be some British taxes on imports from Ireland, and vice versa. |
| UK withdrawal from the customs union would make goods exported across the border subject to various forms of customs controls with duties determined according to complex rules of origin on each individual piece of a product assembled in Europe. | UK withdrawal from the customs union would make goods exported across the border subject to various forms of customs controls with duties determined according to complex rules of origin on each individual piece of a product assembled in Europe. |
| A third of Northern Ireland’s exports in 2015 (£2.1bn out of £6.3bn) were to the Republic (trade with Great Britain is not considered an export), while only 1.6% of the Republic of Ireland’s exports of €111bn (£97bn) were to Northern Ireland. | A third of Northern Ireland’s exports in 2015 (£2.1bn out of £6.3bn) were to the Republic (trade with Great Britain is not considered an export), while only 1.6% of the Republic of Ireland’s exports of €111bn (£97bn) were to Northern Ireland. |