Ireland's PM calls for customs and immigration checks

Ireland's PM calls for customs and immigration checks



Northern Ireland's DUP party today vetoed support for any Brexit plan that put a hard border between the Republic and the UK in the Irish Sea.

Ireland's new Taoiseach reportedly does not believe a 'virtual' border between the Republic and Northern Ireland is a viable way of dealing with issues raised by Brexit.

Leo Varadkar's plan would means customs and immigration checks for people heading to Northern Ireland would have to be carried out on the British mainland.

But the DUP, which is propping up Theresa May's Government in Westminster, immediately said the idea was unworkable today.



British ministers had said the border on the island of Ireland could be controlled with cameras and other technology.

Mr Varadkar does not see this as viable and as a potential threat to the peace process.

But sources have told The Times that Mr Varadkar thinks these plans could restrict movement between the two countries.

He is said to moved away from the land border to ports and airports - effectively drawing a new border in the Irish Sea.



Mr Varadkar and Mrs May held their first official talks in Downing Street in June, shortly after he was elected as Ireland's leader.

Since the Brexit vote, both sides have insisted they do not want a return to the 'borders of the past' in which there was a hard, military controlled border inside Ireland.



Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney, speaking at a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers last week, said: 'What we do not want to pretend is that we can solve the problems of the border on the island of Ireland through technical solutions like cameras and pre-registration and so on... That is not going to work.'

He added: 'Any barrier or border on the island of Ireland in my view risks undermining a very hard-won peace process and all of the parties in Northern Ireland, whether they are unionist or nationalist, recognise we want to keep the free movement of people and goods and services and livelihoods.'

Such a suggestion is likely to anger the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports the Tories at Westminster through a confidence and supply arrangement.

The DUP has previously rejected calls for a 'special status' for Northern Ireland after Brexit, while it is also at loggerheads with Sinn Fein after the collapse of the Northern Ireland executive.

DUP MP Ian Paisley tweeted: '1 of 2 things will now happen 1. A very hard border 2. Ireland will wise up and leave the EU.'

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'There is no way that the DUP would go for an option that creates a border between one part of the United Kingdom and the other.

'Dublin really needs to understand that that proposition is absurd and unconstitutional.'

On Thursday Ms Rudd commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to carry out a detailed analysis of the role of EU nationals in the UK economy and society.



In a letter to the MAC she outlined a transitional phase on immigration for EU nationals after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019.

She said there would be 'a temporary implementation period to ensure there is no cliff-edge on the UK's departure for employers or individuals', including 'a straightforward system for the registration and documentation of new arrivals'.

After this period Britain would move to third phase of the policy, Ms Rudd said, which will determine the long-term arrangements around immigration from the EU.

In her letter Ms Rudd also said that after the UK leaves the EU, free movement will end, but migration between the UK and the EU will continue.

Immigration minister Brandon Lewis told BBC Two's Newsnight: 'When we leave the European Union, by definition freedom of movement ends and we have control of our borders.

'There will be a system after March 2019, which will be our new immigration system, and there will be a period in that, as we've said, there will be transition system which includes a number of things.'

Mr Lewis added that the Tories were 'still very determined to deliver' their target of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands, but wanted to do so in a way that allows the economy to flourish.



Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that Philip Hammond wants Britain to maintain full access to the European single market and customs union in the first of a two-part transitional deal after Brexit.

The Chancellor is said to have told business leaders he initially wants an 'off-the-shelf' deal with the EU that would maintain the UK's current trading relationship with the bloc.

According to the newspaper, this would be followed by a second 'implementation' phase while the final terms of a future trade deal were negotiated.

Allies of Mr Hammond told the newspaper the transition and implementation periods should end by 2022.