‘We don’t want a return to the border of the past,’ says new Northern Ireland Secretary
NORTHERN Ireland’s new Secretary of State has insisted he does not want to see a hardening of the Irish border in the wake of Brexit.
In his first full day in office, James Brokenshire said both the UK and Irish governments were opposed to a return to border check points between north and south.
Concerns about the status of the border after Brexit, and whether free movement of people, goods and services will be impacted, have dominated the political discourse across the island since the UK’s historic vote to leave the EU. In Northern Ireland, 56 per cent of voters backed Remain.
“We certainly don’t want to see a return to the border of the past,” said Mr Brokenshire.
“We don’t want to see that hard border coming into place and I think there is a real sense of commitment between the UK government and also the Irish government to work together very closely so we don’t see that returning.”
Ultimately the shape of the border between the UK and the Irish Republic will have to be agreed collectively by the EU. During the referendum campaign, Theresa May indicated some form of border control would be required in Ireland if people in the UK voted to leave the EU.
Unlike his Brexiteer predecessor Theresa Villiers, Mr Brokenshire, a close ally of the new Prime Minister, campaigned for Remain.
However, he said the UK now needed to unite and respect the outcome of the referendum.
Following the vote, Sinn Fein restated its demand for a poll on Irish unity, warning that Northern Ireland could not be “dragged out” of the EU against its will.
In an interview with RTE, Mr Brokenshire said: “Now we now need to respect the view from across the United Kingdom that the UK should leave the European Union and to get the best possible arrangements for Northern Ireland, that’s the key part of my role.”
On the question of whether multi-million pound EU subsidies paid to Northern Ireland farmers will be replaced by the UK government after Brexit, Mr Brokenshire said ministers were “looking very closely” at the issue.
He also expressed confidence that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, such as those from the Republic, could be guaranteed once the country left the European Union, but only if the rights of UK citizens living in the remaining member states were similarly respected.