Irish Daily Mail

Ireland will ‘do its best to maintain’ UK links

- By Jennifer Bray Deputy Political Editor jennifer.bray@dailymail.ie

ENDA Kenny and David Cameron have agreed to instigate ‘immediate contact’ between senior officials in the UK and Ireland to address the issue of border checks in Northern Ireland as fears grow that they may now be inevitable.

In a 12-minute phone conversati­on, the Taoiseach and outgoing UK Prime Minister ‘agreed that there would be immediate bilateral contact between senior officials on the issues of mutual interest arising from the referendum, including the Common Travel Area and the border’.

The CTA is the travel zone comprising Ireland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.

Mr Kenny yesterday appeared to indicate that he will attempt to ensure there are no hard border checks, stating that the ‘Irish Government will do our utmost in upcoming discussion­s to maintain the CTA and minimise any possible disruption­s to the flow of people, goods and services between these islands.’

Mr Cameron had previously indicated that there could be checks on people leaving Northern Ireland to enter the UK should a Brexit go ahead. He said: ‘If we were to leave, and make a big issue about our borders, you’ve got a border between Britain outside the EU and the Republic of Ireland inside the EU.’

‘Therefore you can only either have new border controls between the Republic and Northern Ireland, or you’d have to have some sort of checks on people as they left...Northern Ireland to come to other parts of the United Kingdom.’

However, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said that the issue of possible border controls will be discussed over the next two years as the UK stages its EU exit.

He had previously said that ‘an internatio­nal border with Europe, 60 miles up the road from Dublin, would be anything but an ideal situation’.

He was echoing comments made by Enda Kenny that if the UK voted to leave the EU then checks could return to the border with the North.

On June 11, Mr Kenny said: ‘I fail to see how you couldn’t have paperwork and validation of customs between here and Northern Ireland.’

He also said hauliers and exporters were concerned Ireland’s competitiv­eness could suffer from delays caused by new checks on the way to and from continenta­l Europe via the UK. ‘The level of paperwork and administra­tion could lead to greater inefficien­cy and greater cost,’ Mr Kenny said.

The government yesterday published their contingenc­y plans which, they say, will now be put into place following the shock vote result.

The document states that ‘preserving the benefits of the Common Travel Area will be a key priority in the context of UK-EU negotiatio­ns’.

It continues: ‘A detailed assessment of options and bilateral discussion­s with the UK will inform Ireland’s position in advance of formal EU-UK negotiatio­ns.’

Fine Gael TD Peter Fitzpatric­k last night called for Ireland’s close relationsh­ip with the UK to be ‘maintained and protected’.

‘I am personally very disappoint­ed with the result of the UK EU referendum, however, we must now respect the decision of the British people and work towards a seamless transition in a way that limits any negative impact on Ireland,’ the Louth TD said.

‘The potential for such an impact is of course a particular concern for the border counties like Louth.’

He added: ‘Weekly trade between the Ireland and the UK amounts to €1.2billion and I would not like to see the return of border controls. Two hundred thousand jobs are directly

Contact by officials on both sides

supported by trade between the two countries and we must do everything we can to support these jobs.

‘We must also now clarify the position of cross-border workers and I would like to see all agreements that are currently in place, maintained.

‘I was pleased to hear An Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirm today that the Irish Government will do its utmost in upcoming discussion­s... to minimise any possible disruption­s to the flow of people, goods and services between these islands.’

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