Theresa May’s long awaited speech on Brexit was notable both for what she did say and, perhaps more conspicuously, for what she did not.
On Northern Ireland specifically, the Prime Minister declared that the maintenance of the Common Travel Area will be an important priority during the negotiation and that the UK will work to deliver a ‘practical solution’ so as to avoid a return to the borders of the past.
The practical solution posited by Mrs. May was subject to the caveat that the integrity of the UK’s immigration system must be protected. This, the Prime Minister suggests, is eminently achievable given that the CTA existed well before 1973 and the UK’s entry into the EEA.
This contrasts with remarks made immediately prior to the Referendum in June, when May claimed it would be “inconceivable” to imagine that there will not be any changes on border arrangements with the Republic of Ireland, if the UK were to pulls out of the EU.
This disparity betrays the logical incoherence of the Prime Minister’s position, deliberately and cynically obfuscated behind her carefully chosen and ultimately meaningless words.
As the Prime Minister is fully aware, that the Common Travel Area existed prior to both the UK and Ireland becoming members of the European Union offers little comfort. Neither the UK nor Ireland has ever been a member of a supra-national bloc guaranteeing freedom of movement beyond their respective borders without the other. The preservation of an open land border between the UK and a Member State of the European Union would be in direct contravention of and would tend to fatally undermine the PM’s demand that a post-Brexit UK have full control over inward migration. It is either purposively ignorant or misleading to suggest that this could be achieved within the existing CTA framework.
We are also expected to welcome the promise of no return to the borders of the past. But let’s be clear. Granted there is a clear conceptual distinction between an Army border imposed primarily as a security measure to prevent IRA smuggling and gun running and a customs border or passport control. From a practical perspective, however, there is little tangible difference. Cars, for example, travelling from Derry to Donegal will likely be required to stop and to show identification. Freight vehicles travelling from Dublin to Belfast may have to stop just outside Newry for inspection and to provide any documentation that may be required for entry. EU nationals, perhaps even Irish citizens, might be required to apply for visas or work permits if they intend to seek employment in the North.
So we end up with, if not a border of the past, then a border of the future, the latter as pernicious and discomforting for the nationalist community as the former.
Thus far on Brexit there seems to have been an inverse correlation between the relative extent of impact versus the level of engagement by the British government with the institutions and people of Northern Ireland. As I wrote this week in the Belfast Telegraph, the impending elections to the Northern Irish Assembly present an opportunity for the people of the North to send a clear message to the Prime Minister. The electorate would be well advised to take the opportunity presented to them.
For make no mistake. Theresa May is going to build a wall. And , sadly, it appears as though Northern Ireland is going to pay.
* Ciaran McGonagle is a Liberal Democrat member originally from Derry, Northern Ireland and based in Colchester. He is a solicitor working in financial services in the City of London.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
DarwIN Shrewsbury Festival, February 2025
Well, that's one way to report an opinion poll - The Week in Polls
Pruning the money tree
Milnbank Road of old #dundeewestend
Mark Valladares
Margaret
John Walller
Peter Davies
David Allen
24 Comments
Thank you for a most perspicacious and thoughtful article.
Telling cleverly is easy enough. Doing cleverly is not.
So far we seem to have had the management of this matter addressed verbally to an extent which impedes the practical, the insightful, the efficient and the compassionate.
Some cheery news: Looks like Anthony Hook has won the Faversham Town Council seat yesterday. Quite a win, I believe we did not contest last time around, won against UKIP, Cons, Lab, Green and Independant. Get the champagne out.
Ciaran
I have regularly said I think it ludicrous we get so poor and so much less coverage of Northern Ireland in our wider media , compared to Scotland ! Even on here we see the balance is not there sometimes. The voice of the SNP is heard in the whole of the UK too much in comparison. Those of my age who were young children and youth in the seventies eighties, know the achievements in the province are amazing, and we must be vigilant. We need more coverage of the Alliance party .Nationally we need to hear more of the First Minister and her colleagues in the Assembly in our news broadcasting.
I welcome your article but feel it is overdone on the Prime Minister.It troubles me that whereas a year or two ago , we were an addendum at times to the Tories, now we seem their enemy ! They are not my enemy , in a democracy , such a mainstream party can only at worst , be an opponent, at best a colleague. In Irish political context , Mrs May needs to tread carefully, but she is not the problem. Brexit was voted for. My whole point is, if the break up with Scotland , and , especially, the Northern Ireland situation , and the border , had been covered more, maybe we would be continuing in the EU.
There is always the solution in place during most of World War II: an essentially open border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and travel restrictions between both those places and England, Scotland and Wales.
Genuine question – Can May find any practical alternative to the “Wall” between Northern and Southern Ireland?
I believe there has been talk of building the “wall” at Dublin Airport, and establishing UK customes and immigration posts there. That seems to me total nonsense because (a) how can the UK likewise police every other entry point to Southern Ireland, (b) even if they could, how could the UK also stop an intended UK immigrant from simply declaring an intention to stay within Southern Ireland, but then slipping quietly across an unpoliced border into the North?
What about building the “wall” around the island of Great Britain instead? That is to say, the UK would have to decide that Northern Ireland must accept continued freedom of movement with the EU, but that all ports and airports on the island of Great Britain would instead have to enforce the immigration barriers. This would, perforce, mean that UK citizens from Northern Ireland being required to show their passports in order to travel inside the UK, from Northern Ireland to the island of Great Britain!
The second alternative wall looks marginally less impractical than the first – but How could Theresa sell the concept of an internal wall inside the UK?!
As Ciaran McGonagle argues, a wall across Ireland looks relatively practical – but a disaster in the making. Cue for the breakdown of the peace process?
It seems clear that the UK government will not allow considerations of this kind to block its chosen course. Hiding them behind emollient words for as long as possible, it knows full well the border posts will return.
The government will turn its back on NI, as UK governments did for decades before the troubles. They looked the other way then and this government expects to do so again; for as long as possible until the consequences become some future administration’s problem.
Thank you for an insightful article which highlights the dangers of border troubles in Ireland.
How will the diary industry cope?
It is easy to talk smart, which is what has happened so far.
Where are the practical plans for the Irish border?
Have they been discussed with the relevant people?
This is an interesting article and the subject raises much interest in Scotland. It is terribly important to avoid a hard border in Ireland. Though I am no expert on this, I think that the Single Market rules do not forbid a member state from having a freedom of movement agreement with a non-member state. In other words, there is not yet a Common EU Border. Guy Verhofstadt wants to change that.
Thus, on Brexit, the CTA would not be invalidated but off course it would only benefit Irish citizens and not non-Irish EU citizens living/visiting Eire. How would the border be controlled for people? I think there would be no border check at all but EU citizens would need visa clearance for the UK. Without that they would be illegal and subject to deportation. The UK would need to impose wide-spread identity checks. Exports going to NI/UK from the Republic, or entering the Republic and going on to NI/UK could be checked for tariffs electronically. UK Customs posts might be established in Eire airports and ports.
These are some ideas.
Nicola is relying on Theresa finding a way round a hard Irish border because if a solution cannot be found, that means that pre-Brexit Indyref 2 is dead in the water. I think a solution will be found.
Because of the land border it is inevitable that people will pass to and fro between Eire and NI (just as they did between, say, France and Belgium before the EU). It’ll be a different story who can be employed etc, but that’s easily sorted as people have to register for tax and so on if they’re employed. The ‘real’ border will be at the posts and airports, where passports will be needed for passage via air or sea from the island of Ireland to the UK. At the moment you need to show some form of i/d anyway (and many people use a passport for that in any case) so it’s no big deal.
@William Ross
I don’t see that any border solution for NI when we leave the EU will help Scotland if they choose to leave the UK and apply for EU membership.
There is quite a difference between a water border between Ireland and the rump UK as opposed to the then land border between the rump UK and the rump EU. That border will be hard.
John
I think the point is that if there is no hard border between Eire and NI, there would be no need for a hard border between RUK and Scotland, assuming that Scotland remains in/joins EU ( which I hope not please).
However, if a Common EU frontier ever materialises then both Eire/NI and Scotland would be sunk. Far better for Eire and Scotland to be independent outside EU! Then its all plain sailing.
W
You can call it Ireland.
Calling it “Eire” is like calling Germany “Deutschland”
@William Ross
The border between NI and Eire will be determined by the rump EU. They will decide whether it is to be hard or not. I don’t see the rump UK imposing a hard border because they will be guided by the wishes of the people of NI.
Effective border control between Ireland and GB will be ports and airports as at the moment.
The border between Scotland and England will be determined by the rump EU and the rump UK. Either side can force a hard border. Rump UK will want a hard border in an attempt to limit illegal immigration. I have no idea if the rump EU will want a hard border or not. Rump EU attitude to the NI border will be a guide to that.
Sorry Ciaran. I have a love of Celtic names.
Uilleam Ros
Go raibh maith agat 🙂
Tha caraid eireannach agam agus the e a radh gu brath ” Go raibh maith agat”.
Go raibh maith agat cuideachd!
Uilleam
Sorry Caron. This is moderate!
Logically there has to be a hard border in Ireland and I wrote about this back in 2015.. However logic does not always apply. We start from a position whereby no-one (as far as I am aware) wants a hard border. That might help. The essential decision -makers are the 27 Eu members and the UK –
1. Every one of the 27 is fully aware of the 30 years of death and destruction and the crucial need to avoid slipping back towards that. If that means finding a way to make an exception to the strict rules governing the external borders of the EU they may well do just that.
2.The UK can argue that any undocumented immigrants who cross the border into NI and then into GB will be subject to detection and deportation. In order to facilitate this might they not dust off the identity card plan which was seen off by liberals some years ago? This would be consistent with a tougher attitude on immigration in general.
@John Peters – shouldn’t forget the border between Gibraltar and Spain…
Also whilst we are talking about borders we shouldn’t forget about UK military bases located in other EU member countries…
What is going to surprise many Brexit supporters is just how much of the Article 50 withdrawal negotiations will be about topics other than access to the single market…
The Tanaiste has resigned today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tánaiste#/media/File:Frances_Fitzgerald_2014.png
She said she believed the decision was necessary “to avoid an unwelcome and potentially destabilising general election at this historically critical time”.
http://www.thejournal.ie/frances-fitzgerald-resigns-3719887-Nov2017/
The electoral pressure is obvious. I do not claim to understand the allegations.
The Irish Republic joined the EU when Britain did and should leave it when Britain does. Problem solved ?
Denis Loretto 20th Jan ’17 – 7:02pm
Denis’ views on the island of Ireland always deserve respect, but “a hard border” needs to be defined. Anything needing military resources requires funding from the Ministry of Defence, which is currently worried about its budget.
At different times and for different reasons both Labour and the Tories have wanted to take steps towards an identity card system. Dutch liberals may say “what is the problem?” but there is a difference between having an identity card/database system and introducing one.
nvelope2003 28th Nov ’17 – 5:20pm
“The Irish Republic joined the EU when Britain did” true 1/1/1973, also Denmark.
and should leave it when Britain does. Problem solved ?” No. The EEC/EC/EU have been financially good for the Republic. As Mary Robinson has said and written there have also been important improvements in human rights.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=mary+robinson&filters=ufn%3a%22Mary+Robinson+Barrister%22+sid%3a%22a8758712-99b6-6c12-59a7-ab2a8ab263b2%22&form=WNSGPH&qs=MB&cvid=2c2a6516053145fbbd49bac38b30e97e&pq=Mary+Robinson&cc=GB&setlang=en-US&nclid=D19A84F13F0AA22DEE7AE50DDCF460A0&ts=1511890474687
Denis Loretto 20th Jan ’17 – 7:02pm:
The UK can argue that any undocumented immigrants who cross the border into NI and then into GB will be subject to detection and deportation.
That’s not a problem. The UK and Ireland both wish to maintain the Common Travel Area (along with the Isle of Man and Channel Islands). This means Ireland will remain outside Schengen and continue to apply similar immigration rules to the UK (and vice versa). The issue with the NI-Irish border is about customs procedures for goods.
nvelope2003 28th Nov ’17 – 5:20pm:
The Irish Republic joined the EU when Britain did and should leave it when Britain does. Problem solved ?
Whether to remain in the EU or not is entirely a decision for the Irish people to make. The UK has no business in attempting to influence such a decision any more than the Irish (other than those entitled to vote in the UK) have with the UK’s decision to leave.