Fears of fresh Irish violence

A SENIOR Irish politician sparked anger last night by suggesting the Government’s Brexit plans could trigger ‘a return to violence’.

In a controversial intervention, the head of the Irish senate’s Brexit committee said any physical checks on the Irish border would guarantee future sectarian clashes.

Neale Richmond, an ally of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, denied his comments were politically motivated – and said they centred on a ‘very real fear based on fact’ and the ‘stated opinion’ of both Irish police forces. It will be seen as a criticism of the ‘maximum facilitation’ customs solution proposed by the Government. The plan would see some physical customs infrastructure at the Irish border, raising fears of Troubles era violence.

Mr Richmond – Fine Gael’s spokesman on the EU – said customs barriers could ‘drive a physical and emotional wedge down the island of Ireland as well as within communities in Northern Ireland’.

He added: ‘This is a very real fear based on fact ... Put simply, any customs checks on the Irish border and the related infrastructure would lead to a return to violence.’

But DUP leader Arlene Foster, whose party props up the Tory Government, said in March that such threats were an ‘insult’ being used as a ‘bargaining chip’.