Taoiseach ‘confident’ of no passport controls

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he remains very confident there will be no need for passport controls on the Irish border after Brexit. Mr Varadkar was responding to concerns raised by former Irish president Mary Mcaleese, who questioned how the EU and UK could differentiate between Irish citizens, who are set to be allowed to travel freely across the border, and other European nationals.

Ms Mcaleese said she did not know how some form of ID checking could be avoided.

If the almost centuryold Common Travel Area agreement remains in place post-brexit, UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to work and trav- 0 Leo Varadkar: Ireland wants to stay in Common Travel Area el freely across the two jurisdictions.

The Irish prime minister said he was sure passport controls would not be needed.

“In life and politics nothing is 100 per cent certain, but I am very confident that there won’t be passport controls between Northern Ireland and Ireland,” Mr Varadkar said.

“We want to stay in the Common Travel Area, which allows people to travel freely between north and south and Britain and Ireland.”