Customs off icers ‘may need weapons’
IRISH customs officers may need to be armed if they are to safely patrol the border after a hard Brexit former Tánaiste Joan Burton has said.
The Labour TD raised the issue as part of a series of queries to Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.
Ms Burton asked Mr Donohoe if he and the Revenue Commissioners had ‘considered the need to arm customs officers that will be stationed on the land border with the United Kingdom when the UK leaves the EU’.
She based her concerns on implied threats from extremists to customs posts. She asked the minister whether
‘A hard border would be attacked by dissidents’
this had created a scenario where ‘the arming of customs officers for their own safety may be necessary’.
Mr Donohoe responded: ‘The European Union and the United Kingdom share the objective of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. It remains vital that a legally-binding backstop is agreed to provide certainty that, in any circumstances, a hard border will be avoided.
‘In terms of security and safety, An Garda Síochána is responsible for the security of the State. Any issues relating to the safety and security of Customs Officers or Customs facilities are addressed to that organisation.’
One minister with knowledge of the border privately said: ‘If we return to a hard border, we will not go for 24 hours before the first dissident republican attack.’
A Brexit border of any sort, the minister added, ‘raises serious concerns about the security of all government workers, from agriculture inspectors to Gardai to customs officers’.
The Irish Mail on Sunday previously reported on a call by Senator Gerard Craughwell for better resources for the Army. The former Army officer and prospective presidential candidate warned: ‘Command structures are crumbling and the Irish Army now only has a skeleton officer staff.
‘This is already having an impact on our capacity to implement our UN mandate. How, then, are we to police a border from Donegal through Cavan Monaghan and Louth when we have as little as one officer per three platoons?’