ARMY ON THE BORDER
Deputy Fitzpatrick stands by call to put soldiers on COVID border patrols
DUNDALK TD Peter Fitzpatrick has defended his call for the Irish army to patrol the border to prevent people ‘making unnecessary journeys’ while COVID-19 restrictions are in place.
Deputy Fitzpatrick made the comments in the Dáil last week, arguing that the higher rate of COVID infections in the north was having an impact on Louth and other border counties.
He called for the army and gardai to patrol the border, stopping motorists to ask ‘is your journey really necessary?’
He has told the Argus that he stands by the comments, as the army had previously been deployed to ‘seal the border’ in 2001 during another national crisis, Foot and Mouth.
Reacting to the proposal, Ruairí Ó Murchú TD said the scenario was ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
‘Even the government themselves have stated that they will not be responsible for putting uniforms on the border. There are people who need to cross the border every day for work and healthcare and other essential reasons.’
With Brexit looming, he add: ‘Mr Fitzpatrick has stated many times that he, like me, does not want to see any hardening of the border. But he is willing to contemplate putting soldiers on the border now?
‘People, on an individual basis, need to continue to follow the guidance, reduce their interactions and stay within five kilometres’.
DUNDALK TD Peter Fitzpatrick has defended his calls for the Irish army to patrol the border to prevent people ‘making unnecessary journeys’ while COVID-19 restrictions are in place.
The TD made the comments during a Dáil debate last week, where he said: ‘ The fact is that the authorities in the North have taken a different approach and that is causing severe problems for Border counties such as Louth, Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal. We in the South have been placed under the most restrictive lockdown in Europe. People have accepted that because they want to get rid of this terrible virus and get their lives back to normal. Many businesspeople have sacrificed their businesses to help in this national effort.’
He criticised the impact of ‘ two different approaches being taken’, adding ‘We in the South are paying a price for that.’
‘How is it that the State has forced certain types of shops and businesses to close but similar shops across the Border remain open? How is it that under the current lockdown restrictions people are not allowed to travel outside their own county or more than five kilometres from their home, yet people can travel from the North across the Border with apparent ease and face no fines or penalties?
In a somewhat controversial move, he called for the army to patrol the border as part of efforts to deter ‘unnecessary travel.’
‘As an ex-soldier of the 27th Battalion, I think it is about time we started to use the Army. There is a barracks in Dundalk with 450 soldiers. Why not deploy them in border areas? Louth, Cavan and Monaghan have done a fantastic job over the past three or four weeks. Is that just going to be flushed down the toilet? He added: ‘ The Government should get the Army out to stop the southerners and the northerners crossing up and down the Border. There is no problem with people who have to travel, but I have seen this situation develop in recent months and I do not like it. The situation is being abused. The freedom to travel is being abused in border areas such as Omeath and Carlingford by northerners who are coming down to the South.
Speaking to the Argus, he defended the comments, saying that the army had been deployed in a previous national emergency, the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001.
He said he had spoken recently to a high ranking army officer who told him they had ‘sealed the border’ successfully during Foot and Mouth crisis ‘ to keep cattle alive, but in 2020 we seem reluctant to do this for the people.’
‘ The army and garda presence are required to stop the flow in both directions.’
The Dundalk TD said that people crossing the border should be asked ‘Is your journey really necessary?’
He warned that the ‘ high rate of COVID infection’ north of the border was having an impact on Louth, and reiterated calls for an army and garda presence at border crossings for the duration of the Level 5 restrictions.