Ireland wants ‘bridges, not borders’ after Brexit — PM
BELFAST: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in Belfast on Friday that his government wanted to build ‘bridges not borders' with neighbouring Northern Ireland as he reiterated his opposition to an economic border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.
“Brexit seriously risks driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and Ireland, between Britain and Ireland,” Varadkar warned, in his first visit to the British province since taking office in June.
“And I cannot imagine who benefits from that.”
Cross-border infrastructure projects such as roads were made possible due to the current free movement of goods and people, he said.
“That's our vision for the future: building bridges, not borders,” he said.
Varadkar reiterated a preference for Britain to remain part of the European Union, and failing that, for it to stay in the European single market to maintain the current free trade arrangements between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Another way to smooth Britain's departure would be to establish an EU-UK customs union, he said.
Noting that a deal of this kind existed with Turkey, he said, “Surely we can have one with the United Kingdom.”
In a speech at Queen's University Belfast, he said the alternative could mean a return of customs posts, “a brutal physical manifestation of historic divisions and political failure ... a place of bloodshed and violence, of checkpoints. A barrier to trade, prosperity and peace.”
But he warned “the clock is ticking” to reach an agreement, Britain having begun the twoyear process of leaving the bloc in March.
The issue of the Irish border — the only land border the UK will have with the EU after Brexit — is a top priority in the negotiations between Brussels and London, which began in June. — AFP