‘Arbitrary’ border may be a Brexit target: Leo

LEO Varadkar described the border as ‘arbitrary’ yesterday, adding: ‘I don’t envisage a return to violence, but if you do have security posts, that will become a target.’

Warning of the trouble Brexit could bring to Ireland, the Taoiseach said: ‘It runs to more crossings than there are on the continent of Europe.’

In comments likely to draw the anger of unionists, he added: ‘This is an arbitrary border drawn in 1920 between six counties and 26 counties.’ At the beginning of his week-long visit to the United States, he said that anything affecting the Good Friday Agreement ‘could drive a wedge between Britain and Ireland’.

On a hard border, Mr Varadkar commented: ‘There is no way that we can accept that. We’re trying to ensure that the final relationship between the EU and UK is so close that we don’t need a hard border.

‘It’s not something we can compromise on, having come so far having reached peace ad power sharing.’

If there is no negotiated Brexit deal, there will have to be a ‘special status for Northern Ireland,’ he said, adding that the North had voted to stay in the EU.

Earlier the Taoiseach said that British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson should visit the border to see for himself that it is not like moving from one London borough to another.

‘I can’t see anything negative in a British cabinet minister viewing the border, seeing what it looks like – although it is invisible,’ he said, on his trip to Texas.

Mr Johnson recently dismissed concerns over the devastation Brexit is expected to bring to Ireland, by comparing cross-border economic activity to crossing from Camden to Westminster and paying a congestion charge. ‘He would certainly be very welcome to visit the border,’ Mr Varadkar said. ‘I know Northern Secretary Karen Bradley has already done that and a delegation of British politicians from the House of Lords and House of Commons has done that too. I think it would be a good idea. It would be helpful.’

He also rejected British proposals that cross-border traders could pre-register, as a solution.

Mr Johnson has only visited the Republic once since the June 2016 referendum, having a breakfast briefing with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney late last year at Iveagh House. He did not leave central Dublin during his brief trip.

Mr Varadkar said: ‘You can read as many briefing documents as you like but sometimes you need to see things with your own eyes, and I think for that reason they would be very welcome to visit the border and see it for themselves. And to see that it is invisible.’

While in the US, the Taoiseach travels to Oklahoma today, to thank the Choctaw people for their generosity to Ireland during the Great Famine in the 1840s. Despite their own poverty, the tribe organised a collection in March 1847 and raised $170 to help victims of the famine here.

He will also, this morning, meet the Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, a Republican who is close to President Donald Trump. She was once considered as a potential running for Mr Trump during his 2016 election campaign.

The Choctaw nation will present traditional cultural and sporting performances for Mr Varadkar, during his short visit to their lands in Oklahoma. Amazingly, the Choctaw play a sport called ‘stickball,’ which has been compared to hurling.

The Taoiseach will cross into Oklahoma from Dallas, where he spent the night after attending the South by Southwest technology festival, showcasing a number of Irish exhibitors.

He will speak at the gathering, encouraging technology firms to join the growing international tech community in Ireland.

Mr Varadkar is due to meet President Trump on Thursday.

‘See things with your own eyes’ Tribe raised funds for famine relief