Blair says it is important to protect the peace process

Tony Blair has said the British government should search for a "creative way" to maintain the Common Travel Area between the Republic and the UK. Shortly after the final result of the referendum, Mr Blair said in London it was important to protect the peace process.

"I think if it is at all possible we need to find a way to keep the Common Travel Area because the Common Travel Area between North and South has been an important part of acknowledging the nationalist and republican sentiment in the North," he told The Irish Times.

"So I think we have to see how we can do that, although speaking now I can't see what that is because once the Republic of Ireland becomes the border with the European Union, then it's quite hard to see how the free movement of people is maintained.

“However, there may be a creative way around it and we should certainly search for it . . .”