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Brexit: All-island common travel area 'to be priority' Brexit: UK and ROI common travel area 'to be priority'
(35 minutes later)
Maintaining the common travel area between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be a priority during the Brexit negotiations, Prime Minister Theresa May has said. Maintaining the common travel area between the UK and Republic of Ireland will be a priority during Brexit negotiations, Theresa May has said.
Setting out her plans for the UK leaving the EU, Mrs May said "no-one wants a return to the borders of the past". The prime minister has set out 12 objectives for the UK leaving the EU.
She also said she hopes that the "main parties" in Northern Ireland will form a government as soon as possible in the "spirit of unity". She said: "No-one wants a return to the borders of the past".
"Our guiding principle must be to ensure that as we leave the European Union no new barriers to living or doing business within our own union are created.
"The United Kingdom will share a land border with the EU and maintaining that common travel area with the Republic of Ireland will be an important priority for the UK in the talks ahead."
The Prime Minister also said that Brexit will mean the UK leaving the European Customs Union.
She said that she will now seek to negotiate a new customs deal with the EU.
If a deal cannot be achieved it will likely lead to the return of some form of customs checks along the Irish border.
The customs union allows tariff-free and paperwork-free trade between its members states.
However, the states agree to be bound by a common commercial policy which means they can't do their own trade deals.
Mrs May said: "Full membership of the customs union prevents us from negotiating own comprehensive trade deals."
She said she wanted a new arrangement, such as associate membership, which would allow tariff free trade to continue.
Reacting to the news, Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd said: "It's clear today from Theresa May's Brexit statement that the views and opinions of the people of North have been completely ignored."
Mrs May also said she hopes that the "main parties" in Northern Ireland will form a government as soon as possible in the "spirit of unity".
NI Secretary James Brokenshire was legally obliged to call for the 2 March vote on Monday after the executive collapsed over a botched green scheme.
Stormont was plunged into crisis after the resignation of Martin McGuinness as deputy first minister last week.