Even after Brexit, hard borders won’t be returning to Ireland
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Version 0 of 1. Brexit has been referred to as the biggest foreign policy issue facing Britain since accession to the European economic community in 1973. In many ways, this is true of Ireland too. As the process unfolds, one of the biggest challenges for Ireland is how we maintain a strong and close relationship with our UK friends and neighbours while remaining at the heart of the European Union. While we deeply regret the outcome of the UK referendum, Ireland remains, and will remain, a committed member of the EU. Since the referendum I have engaged extensively with both my UK government counterparts and each of my foreign ministerial colleagues all across the EU. I’ve spoken to the UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, on several occasions, and I was pleased to welcome the secretary of state for exiting the EU, David Davis, to Dublin for discussions. Several other EU foreign ministers have also visited Dublin and last week, the EU commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, visited Dublin – the sixth capital he visited on his tour of 28. And Ireland’s taoiseach, Enda Kenny, has had extensive discussions with Theresa May, Angela Merkel, François Hollande, Donald Tusk and many others. In my discussions with EU colleagues, I have emphasised the importance of the Irish and Irish-British dimensions to Brexit for our citizens, our economy and trading links, our common travel area with the UK and, of course, Northern Ireland and its invisible border with the rest of the island. I’ve also stressed the need for a strong EU, characterised by partnership, peace and prosperity. I have been heartened by the strong support across Europe for the peace process and the understanding about our special circumstances on the island. One of our key concerns about Brexit is any risk to the effective invisibility of the border between north and south Overall, we will be working for special arrangements that take account of Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances. The process ahead is extremely complex and multi-layered. We are currently auditing and assessing the implications of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU across a range of sectors through dialogue between the north and south, between London and Dublin, through bodies such as the British Irish Council and with our EU partners. This in no way pre-empts the wider negotiations between the UK and the EU 27. Ireland’s relationship with Britain is unique in every possible way – politically, economically, culturally, legally and in terms of people-to-people links. One in four people in Britain can claim Irish heritage, while in the business world almost 60,000 UK company directors are Irish-born. The Dublin-London route is the second busiest air route in Europe. We trade over €1.2bn a week between us, and Ireland is the UK’s fifth largest trading partner. We must do everything we can to protect these hard-won positive links. Northern Ireland is a core priority for Dublin in terms of the Brexit process. While the peace settlement is by now well-established, we can never afford to be complacent. Twice in the two years after I became foreign minister, I have spent long periods of time in Belfast participating in political talks. These ultimately led to the Stormont House agreement in December 2014 and the Fresh Start agreement last November. I witnessed at first hand how the still delicate political stability in Northern Ireland can be shaken. The Good Friday agreement provides the framework for our engagement in Northern Ireland, and we have worked alongside the UK government and Northern Ireland’s political leaders to stabilise the devolved institutions in Belfast and deliver important initiatives. Last month, honouring commitments under the Fresh Start agreement, James Brokenshire and I signed a treaty to establish an independent reporting commission to help tackle the legacy of paramilitarism which continues to plague some vulnerable communities in Northern Ireland. We want to see that scourge removed from people’s lives. Brexit presents a substantial challenge to this remarkable but still incomplete progress. Across the UK as a whole, 52% of voters opted to leave the EU. However, in Northern Ireland, 56% voted to remain. The people of Northern Ireland are in a unique position both in the UK and the EU, entitled to define themselves as British, Irish, or both. Common British and Irish membership of the EU has been a fundamental element in the political context which allowed the peace process to move forward. When the UK leaves the EU, Northern Ireland will be the only region that shares a land border with another EU member state. One of our key concerns about Brexit is any risk to the effective invisibility of the border between north and south. The Northern Ireland executive and the Irish and UK governments have been unanimous in their view that we must maintain the openness of the border which is enjoyed today. The common travel area, where citizens of Britain and Ireland have enjoyed free movement in each other’s countries since 1922, is highly valued on all sides. The reinstatement of any kind of hard border would also have obvious negative consequences for cross-border trade and economic activity. Equally serious would be the effect of resurrecting a potent symbol of division in a society emerging from conflict where many communities and groups are working hard to foster greater reconciliation, shared understanding and partnership. Future arrangements between the UK and Ireland, and between the Irish government and the Northern Ireland executive, will have to be placed in the wider framework negotiated between the UK and the 27 other EU members – including Ireland. The Irish government will work hard to make sure all sides are fully conscious of the need to work together to ensure the transformed Irish-UK relationship and the enormous achievements of the peace process are safeguarded for future generations. |