A soft Irish border

SIR – I can envisage no insurmountable problems in maintaining a soft Irish border after Brexit, as long as the Republic of Ireland stays out of the Schengen area.

The refugee problem at Calais is a direct result of the Schengen states’ failure to control their perimeter border. This allowed illegal immigrants to pass through to Calais unimpeded. If the Republic of Ireland decided to join Schengen and allow passport-free travel from France, this would risk Calais’ refugee problem being exported to the UK, via Dublin, and a hard border being introduced.

If the Republic is serious about wanting a soft border, it must resist attempts by France and Brussels to force it to join Schengen. Victor Launert

Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

SIR – One can sense Simon Coveney’s despair (report, November 2) about the need for a soft Irish border.

In the run-up to Brexit, I asked a number of politicians who advocated our leaving the EU how this would be achieved; none were able to provide a solution. More than a year later, we seem no nearer to a workable formula.

As a young Army officer stationed in Omagh, I once accidentally moved the Irish border. I had been hunting in the Republic and returned to the border post at Strabane with my horse in a trailer.

My Land Rover pulled up beside the shed in which a customs officer sat. We exchanged pleasantries, and I moved off – failing to notice that the nearside wheel of my trailer had lodged behind the shed. Despite shouts from the customs officer, it took me some seconds to appreciate that the drag on the vehicle was caused by my pulling the shed toward Northern Ireland’s side of the border post.

An international incident was avoided, but I suspect that many more serious problems will loom ahead if we don’t resolve the border issue soon. Shaun Leavey

Sherborne, Dorset