Brexit threat to peace

Politicians fear hard border will risk Good Friday deal

GOVERNMENT concern is growing that the chaos surrounding Brexit may yet put the peace process in danger.

Chief Whip and Border minister Joe McHugh told the Irish Mail on Sunday that ‘at all costs we cannot have a physical border.’

A hard border, he warned, ‘would undo 20 years of work; it would in one fell swoop squander a peace dividend that was so hard won.

‘You are looking at a peace process that, despite its 20-year span, is still in its infancy.’

Mr McHugh urged ‘the British in the event of a hard border being mooted have an obligation to come up with a solution.’

And he warned that ‘the recent underlay of violence in Derry indicates how hard it is to undo the consequences of the previous five decades.’

The Whip’s concerns were shared by Jobs Minister Heather Humphreys who told the MoS that even 20 years after the agreement ‘we can never take peace for granted.’ She said: ‘Huge amounts of peace-building have gone on under the radar and we have come a long way, but even a single customs post will cause chaos. We would be at the edges of an economic wilderness.

‘We should remember the Troubles began with the blowing up of a customs post. Any form of customs posts are symbols of division where trouble will inevitably escalate.

‘I don’t want a return to customs posts, hour-long queues, nobody wants to go back to the days of border checks.’

Ms Humphreys, who recently attended a GAA match with DUP leader Arlene Foster, recalled attending an exhibition commemorating the Troubles, which ‘stirred up a sickening feeling of the past’.

‘I remember the border when family members of the security forces couldn’t cross to bury their dead; we will not be forgiven if we return to that,’ she added.

Separately, senior politicians have warned that as many as 4,000 troops would be needed to be recruited by the Army if we are to rebuild a hard border infrastructure.

Presidential candidate Gerard Craughwell, who served in the British and Irish armies, told the MoS: ‘Operationally we would not be in a position to mount border controls in the case of a disorderly Brexit’.

And he warned: ‘Our border as of now is essentially unprotected.’ This was confirmed by Ms Humphreys, who said there is no infrastructure at the border. Mr Craughwell insisted: ‘A hard Brexit and an unprotected border would create the scenario where illegal activity would be rife and any attempt to curb that activity would be violently responded to. We would be less capable of protecting the border than at any point since the 1970s when the Troubles began. There is a severe lack of experienced personnel.’

He added that if the border was to be patrolled the Defence Forces would have to increase from 9,500 to 12,500 and ‘even then, the logistics necessary to manage a border do not exist’. ‘Huge swathes of the border do not have troops,’ he said. ‘Currently we have soldiers in Donegal and Dundalk, but we have no soldiers in Cavan, Monaghan or Leitrim.’

This, he predicted, would have huge knock-on effects in areas such as agriculture.

Fianna Fáil Justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan also raised concerns over the security implications, warning that hundreds of gardaí may have to be relocated.

He urged the Government to ‘wake up to this appalling prospect and ensure the gardaí are adequately resourced should an unpredictable hard border develop’.

George Hamilton, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has indicated he may need around 400 extra officers to police the border. Mr O’Callaghan

‘Even a single customs post will cause chaos’

commented: ‘Given that there is a minimum of 250 crossings we need to be prepared for a hard border in terms of logistics and men.’

The FF Justice spokesman added: ‘It should not be forgotten that the original border was put in place without most of the people on this island having any say in respect of it.’

Responding to Dáil questions, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan insisted: ‘There is contingency planning in the Department of Justice and Equality. A high-level team composed of managers from across the Garda Síochána has been established and scoping exercises in anticipation of Brexit have been conducted.’

Concern is also growing across all parties over the escalating chaos in the Tory party.

Fianna Fáil foreign affairs spokesman Niall Collins said it is difficult to secure an agreement in a scenario where ‘we have a Tory government that essentially no longer exists’.

‘It is very hard for the EU to negotiate with the UK when we do not know which wing of the Tory party will make the decision,’ he added.