UK commitments to avoid hard border ‘politically bullet-proof’

The commitments made by Britain to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland are "politically bullet-proof" and "cast iron", Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Speaking after the deal was agreed on Irish-specific issues to allow negotiations on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU to proceed to the next phase, Mr Varadkar also the Government had “achieved all we set out to achieve in phase one of these negotiations”.

The document agreed between the EU and the UK reached the threshold of “sufficient progress” in the areas of citizens’ rights, the financial divorce settlement and Irish-specific issues.

The negotiations will now advance to the next stage which focuses on the transition period after Brexit takes effect in March 2019, and the future EU-UK relationship.

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Ireland secured a commitment that there will be no hard border with Northern Ireland even if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. In such a scenario there will be regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

In order to assuage the concerns of the DUP, Britain also pledged that Northern Ireland would not be treated differently from the rest of the UK in the Brexit process.

When asked if the deal meant Britain was heading for a so-called “soft Brexit”, with close ties to the European single market and customs union, Mr Varadkar said “we are going to be getting away from this simple, binary soft or hard Brexit idea”.

Regulations

He added: “We’re actually now getting into the detail. And I think as we get into the detail more and more, the British public and British people will come to understand why it makes sense actually that we have very similar or almost identical rules and regulations when it comes to trade. That’s what facilitates free trade, that we do have the same standards.”

He called the Border commitments “politically bullet-proof…they are cast-iron”.

“If you see the language that is there in the paragraphs. It talks about a commitment to avoiding a hard border, there being no physical infrastructure, no associated checks and controls, and that commitment is overarching and stands in all circumstances, so the strongest commitment that exists in this document is that political commitment that there be no hard border”.

At the same press conference Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said Ireland wanted the relationship between Britain and the EU to be a close as possible to the current status quo.

Mr Coveney acknowledged there was an “irony” that Ireland wants such an outcome, but stressed this is the case.

Mr Varadkar also said he wanted in particular “to recognise the concerns of the unionist community in Northern Ireland”, and said there was no “question of us exploiting Brexit as a means of moving to a united Ireland without consent”.

The Taoiseach said the nationalist community in Northern Ireland would “never again be left behind by an Irish government”.

Best of both worlds

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said Northern Ireland could get the best of both worlds in the Brexit negotiations.

"They could do with a break," Mr Martin told RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke. "Historically they haven't done well economically."

He said the “devil will be in the detail” of the final Brexit deal, adding the “crucial issue” will the four freedoms of the EU: the freedom of movement, movement of goods, people, services and capital over borders.

Mr Martin said it was no small achievement for British prime minister Theresa May to get to this stage given all the difficulties she faced, but said the next stage was "crucial" for Ireland.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker described Friday's agreement with Britain as a "breakthrough", and said he was confident EU leaders would approve it at a European Council summit next week.