Ireland wants 'bridges, not borders' after Brexit: PM
Irish PM Varadkar reiterated a preference for Britain to remain part of the European Union
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar. PHOTO: REUTERS
BELFAST:
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in Belfast on Friday that his government wanted to build 'bridges not borders' with neighbouring Northern Ireland as he reiterated his opposition to an economic border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.
"Brexit seriously risks driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and Ireland, between Britain and Ireland," Varadkar warned, in his first visit to the British province since taking office in June. "And I cannot imagine who benefits from that."
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Cross-border infrastructure projects such as roads were made possible due to the current free movement of goods and people, he said.
"That's our vision for the future: building bridges, not borders," he said.
Varadkar reiterated a preference for Britain to remain part of the European Union, and failing that, for it to stay in the European single market to maintain the current free trade arrangements between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Another way to smooth Britain's departure would be to establish an EU-UK customs union, he said.
Noting that a deal of this kind existed with Turkey, he said, "Surely we can have one with the United Kingdom." In a speech at Queen's University Belfast, he said the alternative could mean a return of customs posts, "a brutal physical manifestation of historic divisions and political failure... a place of bloodshed and violence, of checkpoints. A barrier to trade, prosperity and peace."
But he warned "the clock is ticking" to reach an agreement, Britain having begun the two-year process of leaving the bloc in March. The issue of the Irish border - the only land border the UK will have with the EU after Brexit - is a top priority in the negotiations between Brussels and London, which began in June.
There are fears the return of a "hard" border would disrupt the fragile peace in Northern Ireland, which was plagued by three decades of unrest until a 1998 peace deal. Varadkar described Brexit as "the challenge of our generation", saying, "Every single aspect of life in Northern Ireland could be affected by the outcome."
The Irish premier was meeting the leaders of the main Northern Irish parties during his two-day visit to Belfast, including Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). It was their first meeting since Varadkar triggered a storm of DUP criticism last week by urging the party to clarify its position on the border issue.
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"We're not going to be helping them to design some sort of border that we don't believe should exist in the first place," he said then. His comments, which also expressed the hope of a U-turn over Brexit, provoked a furious reaction from the DUP, the only main party in Northern Ireland to support leaving the EU in last year's referendum.
After what she called a "useful and forthright" meeting, Foster said Varadkar had agreed with her in ruling out any suggestion that the border could be moved offshore into the Irish Sea following Brexit.
"It's very clearly not his preference and he has made that clear to me today and I thank him for that," she said. Varadkar also called Friday for the immediate restoration of Northern Ireland's regional government, which has been suspended since power-sharing collapsed earlier this year amid bitter divisions between the pro British DUP and Irish nationalist Sinn Fein.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in Belfast on Friday that his government wanted to build 'bridges not borders' with neighbouring Northern Ireland as he reiterated his opposition to an economic border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.
"Brexit seriously risks driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and Ireland, between Britain and Ireland," Varadkar warned, in his first visit to the British province since taking office in June. "And I cannot imagine who benefits from that."
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Cross-border infrastructure projects such as roads were made possible due to the current free movement of goods and people, he said.
"That's our vision for the future: building bridges, not borders," he said.
Varadkar reiterated a preference for Britain to remain part of the European Union, and failing that, for it to stay in the European single market to maintain the current free trade arrangements between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Another way to smooth Britain's departure would be to establish an EU-UK customs union, he said.
Noting that a deal of this kind existed with Turkey, he said, "Surely we can have one with the United Kingdom." In a speech at Queen's University Belfast, he said the alternative could mean a return of customs posts, "a brutal physical manifestation of historic divisions and political failure... a place of bloodshed and violence, of checkpoints. A barrier to trade, prosperity and peace."
But he warned "the clock is ticking" to reach an agreement, Britain having begun the two-year process of leaving the bloc in March. The issue of the Irish border - the only land border the UK will have with the EU after Brexit - is a top priority in the negotiations between Brussels and London, which began in June.
There are fears the return of a "hard" border would disrupt the fragile peace in Northern Ireland, which was plagued by three decades of unrest until a 1998 peace deal. Varadkar described Brexit as "the challenge of our generation", saying, "Every single aspect of life in Northern Ireland could be affected by the outcome."
The Irish premier was meeting the leaders of the main Northern Irish parties during his two-day visit to Belfast, including Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). It was their first meeting since Varadkar triggered a storm of DUP criticism last week by urging the party to clarify its position on the border issue.
EU to mull post-Brexit membership for 'united Ireland'
"We're not going to be helping them to design some sort of border that we don't believe should exist in the first place," he said then. His comments, which also expressed the hope of a U-turn over Brexit, provoked a furious reaction from the DUP, the only main party in Northern Ireland to support leaving the EU in last year's referendum.
After what she called a "useful and forthright" meeting, Foster said Varadkar had agreed with her in ruling out any suggestion that the border could be moved offshore into the Irish Sea following Brexit.
"It's very clearly not his preference and he has made that clear to me today and I thank him for that," she said. Varadkar also called Friday for the immediate restoration of Northern Ireland's regional government, which has been suspended since power-sharing collapsed earlier this year amid bitter divisions between the pro British DUP and Irish nationalist Sinn Fein.