Naomi O’Leary: Ireland’s travel policy curbed by Britain

All around the world, the coronavirus pandemic has caused borders to become more apparent. On the invisible division line that winds between Belgium and the Netherlands, small crossing roads in residential neighbourhoods were blocked with mounds of earth and fences. One clothing shop cut through by the border in the town of Baarle-Nassau had to close the Belgian half of its business, while the Dutch part of the shop floor remained open, due to differing lockdown rules in the two states.

The dividing lines aren’t just national. In Australia, some internal state borders have been closed since March. People who travel from Sydney to Brisbane must quarantine for two weeks, and can be fined up to €8,200 for violating the rule. Meanwhile in New Zealand and many Asian countries, international arrivals are put up in mandatory quarantine hotels organised by the state.

For Ireland, the pandemic has underlined its unique position in Europe and the ways in which it is geographically and politically torn between Britain and the EU.

In the initial panic as the pandemic took hold in Europe, EU states began closing their borders to one another in a haphazard collapse of decades of work on easing free movement. The sudden border checks that sprang up led to days-long traffic tailbacks, with lorries delivering food and medicine stuck on the jammed motorways. On the Polish borders, where truck drivers were stopped for temperature checks and foreigners refused entry, people from the Baltic states trying to transit through to get home were left stranded.

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To resolve the chaos, national governments turned to the familiar structures of co-operation of the European Union. This time, meetings were digital rather than face to face. Transport and trade ministers hashed out what kinds of vehicles should be allowed free passage on the borders – and how – over video conference. Health ministers co-ordinated on screening and testing policies.

Determined to reintroduce co-ordination and manage borders as a bloc, member states made an accord on March 17th to ban all non-essential travel into the EU. This ended casual travel by people who were not citizens or resident in the bloc. Essential workers were always exempt.

Alone in bloc

This was where Ireland’s unique position began to become obvious. Alone in the bloc, Ireland was the only EU member not to decide to implement this decision. Both Ireland and the UK went their own way, remaining open to international travel while requiring arrivals to self-isolate for two weeks.

Ireland and the UK went their own way, remaining open to international travel while requiring arrivals to self-isolate

In the next step in EU co-ordination on borders, the bloc last week agreed on a list of states to exempt from their travel ban. For 15 states, including Australia, Canada and Japan, there could be restriction-free, two-way travel with the member states of the EU. Again, Ireland was not part of this agreement.

This is partly because Ireland is not in the Schengen Area, the zone of 26 countries that have abolished passport controls between them and operate a common visa policy.

But this is not the only reason. Four countries that are not in Schengen – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania – chose to opt in. Four countries that aren’t in the EU are also taking part: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

What makes Ireland unique is its common travel area with the United Kingdom. Both Ireland and the UK have the option to align with the border agreements if they wish but have chosen not to do so.

The reality is that the open travel area between the islands of Britain and Ireland means that the Irish Government cannot join such EU agreements on borders unless the British government decides to do so as well. One government cannot go its own way, because it would create a conundrum over where the dividing line between the states would be. And in the wake of Brexit, the British government is ideologically committed to refusing to join EU initiatives as a point of principle.

This applies even when such initiatives are domestically popular or clearly in their national interest, whether it’s plans to bulk-buy personal protective equipment, international student exchanges or nuclear power and security agreements.

Mini-travel area

The effect is that in the time of Covid-19, Ireland’s mini travel area with the UK has taken on greater significance, and the Government’s decisions about how to manage border and travel during the pandemic are tied to British policy.

The Government's decisions about how to manage border and travel during the pandemic are tied to British policy

From Friday, England is dropping its requirement for international arrivals to self-isolate for two weeks for travellers from over 50 countries. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have the power to set their own policy. But once travellers are within the common travel area, there are no internal restrictions on their roaming – and neither are there if they enter Northern Ireland and continue into the Republic.

One of the consequences of Ireland’s divergent policy from the rest of the EU is that while most member states have opened up travel to each other, several still advise against travel to the Republic, citing its ongoing quarantine requirements for all arrivals

The pandemic has highlighted the reality of Ireland’s awkward position, caught between Britain and the EU. The combination of circumstances that exposed this dilemma were unexpected. There are likely to be other such unforeseen conundrums in the future, in which Britain and the EU pull in different directions, and Ireland, due to its unique political and geographic position, is left not fully free to chose its own policy. The Government should be clear about what choices exist.