Ireland will never agree to a Brexit deal with a hard border Coveney warns frontier infrastructure will threaten peace process and trade
IRELAND will never sign up to a Brexit deal that will see a physical border re-emerge, the Tanaiste confirmed yesterday.
Simon Coveney said that would have a destructive effect on the Good Friday Agreement and on trade on the island.
At a conference to ready businesses for the consequences of Brexit in Cork, the Foreign Minister also said he believes a no-deal Brexit is very likely because the other options are so bad.
He said: “Ireland will never sign up to a withdrawal treaty that doesn’t protect the Good Friday Agreement, protect the peace process for nationalists and unionists and that doesn’t follow through on the commitments that have been given to Ireland guaranteeing no future border infrastructure on this island.
“They are commitments that were given last December. They are commitments that were given again last March when the British Prime Minister committed to legally operable text in the withdrawal treaty to that effect.”
Earlier Mr Coveney told RTE there was no danger Ireland would be pressurised into making concessions if all the other elements of a Brexit deal had been
Simon Coveney and his Polish counterpart Jacek Czaputowicz worked out. He said: “We have worked hard for the last two years to maintain very strong solidarity with the Irish issues.
He added: “I believe Theresa May is absolutely committed to protecting Ireland through Brexit as well as obviously advocating for Britain’s interests.”
Separately European Affairs Minister Helen Mcentee urged Mrs May to bring forward her proposals to break the deadlock in the talks over the border.
PROPOSALS
She told BBC Radio 4: “In the next 10 days if there is a proposal, on its own it won’t resolve the issue, but if something is legally sound and workable, the [EU’S Brexit] taskforce will work with Mrs May.”
Meanwhile the man who helped broker the Good Friday Agreement has urged Britain and the EU to keep to their promises in avoiding a hard border.
George Mitchell’s plea was read by Gina Miller, the woman who took the UK Government to court to ensure MPS had a say on the final Brexit deal.
Speaking in Newry, Co Down, she said: “The UK and the EU publicly committed themselves to a Brexit that does not re-establish a hard border. We should all insist they keep their promise.”