Bertie Ahern: Ireland should take Theresa May 'at her word' on border pledge but both sides may have to 'turn a blind eye' to certain issues
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Loading... - Nancy Williams
- 27 Nov 2020
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Ireland should take Theresa May “at her word” when she says the UK Government does not want a post-Brexit hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, a former Taoiseach has said.
Bertie Ahern, who served as Irish prime minister for more than a decade before leaving office in 2008, said Mrs May had “constantly said she doesn’t want a physical border” between the two countries.
The European Union and Ireland have expressed a similar sentiment and as a result both sides of the negotiating table should concentrate on finding a technological solution to the border issue, he said.
Mr Ahern said he believed technology could be used to keep track of the majority of goods and therefore the creation of a hard border could be avoided.
However, he suggested both Ireland and the UK might have to “turn a blind eye” on the movement of certain items which technology could not provide a solution for.
The Irish border has emerged as a key Brexit stumbling block in recent days with the EU having said the UK must spell out an acceptable solution before a crunch summit in December when European leaders will decide whether withdrawal talks can move onto trade.
Dublin has urged Mrs May to accept a solution that would see either the whole of the UK or just Northern Ireland remain in the single market and customs union.
Such a scenario would likely be impossible for the Government to sign off on given its insistence that the UK will be leaving both.
Mr Ahern told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he believed a hard border is avoidable.
He said: “Theresa May, to take her at her word, she has constantly said she doesn’t want a physical border, the EU don’t want a physical border, the Irish government don’t so you are left down with the one alternative: To make technology work in most cases and to turn a blind eye to those areas that can’t come in within technology.”
Mrs May said in her Florence speech in September that the UK “will not accept any physical infrastructure at the border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Mr Ahern said it might be possible for customs checks to be conducted “back at base” with multi-national firms to avoid the need for formal border checks.
He said: “Some people I talk to tell me that is possible to a great extent but there are some areas where you just have to say it is impossible to check those items.
“I would imagine our economy is relatively small, a huge amount of the trade is multi-nationals, it should be possible I think to do that by technology.
“But of course when you come down to agriculture and smaller items I don’t think technology would work.
“One thing we do not want, can’t have, is back to a physical border.”
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, warned the Prime Minister on Friday that she had 10 days to reach a deal if she wants to make a Brexit breakthrough at the European Council summit on Dec 14.
Ireland has threatened to block talks on the future relationship between the EU and the UK unless it is given "credible answers and a credible road map" to ensure that there is no hard border.
Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, signalled on Sunday that Britain will not meet the deadline and that a final position on the border could not be reached until the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and EU is finalised.
Mr Ahern’s comments came as Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, said he received personal assurances from senior EU figures Michel Barnier, Donald Tusk and Jean Claude Juncker on Friday that the EU would back Ireland on the border issue.
"They have repeated the message that Ireland's problems are the EU's problem, so Ireland is not going to be isolated and forced to use a veto," Mr Coveney said.
