Irish Examiner The Transport Minister cannot say if drivers who are stopped without a green card after Brexit will be prosecuted or have their vehicles seized. Appearing before the Transport Committee, Shane Ross confirmed that Irish drivers who travel across the border into Northern Ireland would have to carry a green card to prove they Read more >

Belfast Telegraph – Cross-border trade in goods has been growing at an average rate of 4% a year over the past 20 years. The level of goods traded across the Irish border is at an all-time high, officials said. It stands at £6.1 billion for 2017, an all-island organisation established after the Good Friday Agreement Read more >

Irish Independent – Irish motorists wanting to drive in the UK, including Northern Ireland, will need to arrange so-called ‘Green Cards’ in the event of a no-deal Brexit, insurers have warned. What is a Green Card? A Green Card is an internationally recognised insurance document which provides proof of the minimum compulsory motor insurance cover Read more >

The Irish Times – The Border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has been the issue that has bedevilled the Brexit negotiations, one that has overshadowed the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. Against this background, and in light of the misunderstandings that surround the issue of the Irish Border, The Irish Times has brought together a volume of information Read more >

The Irish Times New UK-Ireland arrangement to protect Common Travel Area ‘ready to go’ – Tánaiste Irish citizens living in Britain and British citizens living in Ireland will not have to take any action to protect their existing rights in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Tánaiste Simon Coveney said a new bilateral arrangement between the UK and Ireland to Read more >

Sky News – It was barely mentioned during the referendum campaign, but the border on the island of Ireland has become the defining issue. The British and Irish governments have both stated that they are not preparing for a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic – so who is? “No one,” according to Read more >

thedetail – Deputy director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) Daniel Holder explains citizens’ rights post Brexit. Discussion on Brexit and Northern Ireland has focused extensively on the potential hardening of the land border, or a border in the Irish Sea. However, beyond that are numerous questions as to the impact of Read more >

The Telegraph – The “Irish question” has come to the forefront of the Brexit negotiations, even though the formal discussion about the shape of Britain’s future relationship with the European Union has not yet even begun. It is still not clear which type of Brexit the UK will pursue – the hard version in which the Read more >

Independent.ie – Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said it would not be acceptable for the Northern Ireland Assembly to have a veto over the so-called backstop to avoid a hard Border. The British government published proposals which would see Stormont given the power to veto new EU rules if the backstop came into effect post-Brexit. It Read more >

BBC News – In 2018, the Irish border assumed a greater role in British politics than at probably any time since it was created. The debate has centred on what has become known as the backstop. It set off a political row about sovereignty, Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom and the ultimate outcome Read more >

The Express – BREXIT talks stalled once more at the EU summit last week, and despite the Prime Minister’s claim that a deal is 95 percent ready, the evidence is lacking. So why is the Irish border so crucial? Theresa May told MPs that while a deal was on its way, the Irish border was Read more >

The Irish Times – Mary Casey remembers how her father Jack gave pocket money to the children to buy sweets when he came home in his lorry to Inniskeen, Co Monaghan. “Daddy Cann,” they called him. Johnny McCann, as he was known to his fellow drivers, brought home tubes of Rolo chocolates for Mary and left them Read more >

Journal.ie – IRISH CONSUMER SENTIMENT fell sharply in September, according to a report released today. The KBC Bank/ESRI consumer sentiment index fell to 96.4 in September, its lowest level since December 2016. The six-point drop from August’s reading of 102.4 was also the largest monthly decline in four years. The report attributes the decline in Read more >

Belfast Telegraph – After enduring Storm Ali and with all its disruption, destruction and death, we should now be preparing for Storm Brexit. While this will be an entirely man-made political storm, it has the potential to be massively destructive and rage for a very long time. Despite Theresa May’s unrealistic but earnest hopes, Salzburg, the city Read more >

Irish Independent – Patients in the Republic who are languishing on hospital waiting lists will lose out after Brexit as a vital cross-border treatment scheme becomes more difficult to access. The scheme allows eligible patients in any EU country to avail of treatment outside the jurisdiction. They pay upfront, but get the costs reimbursed by Read more >

The Journal  – Those working in the North and living in the Republic have limited options at present when it comes to mortgage finance. TWO YEARS AGO, Ireland’s Department of Finance transposed the EU’s Mortgage Credit Directive into Irish law. There was some fear at the time that among those to suffer due to the new Read more >

BBC  – The Irish border is the single biggest sticking point at this stage of the Brexit negotiations. The prime minister has pledged to leave the EU’s customs union and single market but at the same time has promised no hardening of the border. That means no new physical infrastructure and no new checks or Read more >

Irish Association for Contemporary European Studies  – Brexit (still) means Brexit. Yet, the problem the UK Prime Minister Theresa May faces is that the Chequers Deal is too soft for Brexiteers and not soft enough for Remainers. The UK has experienced some political instability with the resignation of senior Cabinet Ministers and narrow governmental wins Read more >

Irish Examiner Brexit, whatever it achieves for the UK, does little for Ireland and runs the risk of deepening divisions on the island, writes Richard Humphreys. The Good Friday Agreement, signed 20 years ago, was meant to mark a new start to relationships within these islands. But the promise of the agreement is under challenge as Read more >

Independent ‘The fallout from Brexit has been disastrous and deeply unsettling for Northern Ireland’ An organisation representing tens of thousands of students in Northern Ireland is calling for a people’s vote on the Brexit deal, amid “massive uncertainty” around tuition fees across the border. Olivia Potter-Hughes, president of the National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland (NUS-USI) – which Read more >

Irish Independent Confidence in British Prime Minister Theresa May‘s handling of Brexit is plummeting, as concerns about the policing of the Border mount. A new poll, carried out by the ORB International pollster, shows confidence in the Tory leader has dropped considerably, with 60pc of UK voters not confident Mrs May will get the right deal. Read more >

The Irish Times  – In the year when we mark 20 years since the signing of the Belfast Agreement, it is important to note that Northern Ireland has changed and in some ways, changed utterly. The shadow of political violence has substantially dissipated since the dark days of the Troubles. In other ways however, progress has Read more >

BBC News As the UK races towards its Brexit date in March 2019, one question is being asked louder and louder – how do you solve a problem like the Irish border? The UK and the EU both agree they want to avoid a hard border but can’t agree on how to do that. An Read more >

The Irish Times Residents of Northern Ireland risk losing citizenship rights linked to the Belfast Agreement due to new policies being drafted for Brexit, campaigners have warned. The 1998 Good Friday peace deal allows those born in Northern Ireland to be British, Irish or both, thereby also providing the rights of citizens of the European Union (EU). But under new Brexit proposals, Read more >

Express DEADLOCKED Brexit negotiations will not progress until the United Kingdom can provide a satisfactory answer to the Irish border conundrum, according to European Council President Donald Tusk. The EU’s most senior official posed the threat while briefing MEPs on last week’s European Council summit in Brussels, in which Brexit appeared as a insignificant footnote Read more >

Belfast Telegraph The lack of a deal over the Irish border after Britain leaves the EU has been condemned as a ‘mess’. People living on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have urged European leaders not to desert them, saying that a deal over the UK’s departure from the EU must Read more >

BBC News A lack of clarity of what the Irish border will look like after Brexit remains a “cause for concern”, MPs have warned the government. The warning is contained in a report from Westminster’s Brexit committee. Members of the cross-party House of Commons committee visited the border region in December 2017. The committee’s latest report Read more >

13,000 patients to benefit from cross border services An €8.8 million EU INTERREG VA funded cross-border project has been launched today. The CAWT Acute Services Project has recently secured this EU funding to assess and treat higher volumes of patients more effectively through improvements to and modernisation of current service delivery models. This EU funding Read more >

BBC News A new survey suggests that people in Northern Ireland want to stay within the European Union’s single market and customs union. Researchers at Queens University Belfast carried out the project. It provides in-depth analysis into public attitudes within Northern Ireland towards the UK’s exit from the EU. The project surveyed more than 1,000 Read more >

The Irish Times The ordinariness of Irish Border crossings and uncertainty of what might happen to them after Brexit attracted artist David Fox to capture them in a dozen paintings. The 31-year-old Tullamore artist had been living in Belfast for six years and regularly crossed the Border during that time on his motorbike travelling home Read more >

The Guardian Northern Ireland’s top police officer has warned that border posts and security installations created as a result of a “hard Brexit” would be seen as “fair game” for attack by violent dissident republicans. The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said he feared that a fortified frontier that would have to be Read more >

BBC The Northern Ireland Secretary has said it “simply isn’t tenable” to have different agricultural rules for one side of a field from the other side of a field after Brexit. Karen Bradley was giving evidence to the House of Lords EU Committee. She was asked about sectors where UK and EU rules would need Read more >

10 December 2017, BBC News. The UK is committed to maintaining a “frictionless” border with Ireland, regardless of whether a deal is struck to leave the EU, David Davis has said. The Brexit secretary added Friday’s UK-EU agreement was conditional on reaching an “over-arching” trade deal. He described the agreement as “a statement of intent” rather than a Read more >

20 November 2017, The Guardian. Ireland has said it will block progress of Brexit negotiations in December, unless the UK give a formal written guarantee there will be no hard border with Northern Ireland. The Guardian view on Brexit and the Irish border: Britain’s shameful dereliction From the referendum campaign onwards, Brexiters have ignored the dire Read more >

15 October 2017, BBC A failure to reach a deal in the Brexit talks would inevitably lead to a so-called hard Irish border, according to Sir Keir Starmer. The Labour Party’s shadow Brexit secretary said a no-deal scenario would be “catastrophic” for Ireland. The UK has until March 2019 – the date when it is Read more >

13 September 2017, Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland peace projects could continue to receive EU funding after Brexit, with money funnelled through the Republic of Ireland, a committee of Irish parliamentarians proposed. Programmes to prevent inter-community conflict, promote reconciliation, cross-border cooperation and the development of infrastructure and jobs should be protected amid heightened political and economic Read more >

31 August 2017, The Belfast Telegraph. Talks on how to resolve the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic have been “fruitful” however, there has been no “decisive progress” in the overall Brexit talks, the EU’s chief negotiator has said. Michel Barnier said the EU and the UK were still “quite far” Read more >

31 July 2017, The Irish Times More than a year after the Brexit referendum in the UK, we are little wiser about how Britain’s exit from the EU will actually be organised. One of the most sensitive issues for Ireland is the Border and the fear that despite reassuring noises from London and Brussels – and from many other EU capitals Read more >

17 July 2017, The Irish Times British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly hears ‘frictionless, seamless’ border is possible European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has described the ongoing Brexitnegotiations as “the chess game of our lives”. As the second round of formal talks got underway in Brussels on Monday, Ms O’Reilly told a gathering of British and Irish parliamentarians in Kilkenny Read more >

19 July 2017, BBC News The Brexit debate appears to have “exacerbated cross-community divisions” in Northern Ireland, a House of Lords report has said. The Lords EU Committee has been examining the impact of Brexit on the UK’s devolved institutions. It said Northern Ireland will be “profoundly affected” because of its distinctive circumstances. Statistical analysis Read more >

15 July 2017, The Irish Times Michel Barnier’s recent dismissal of the notion of “frictionless” trade between the UK and EU after Brexit has direct ramifications for one of the most complex problems faced by the Brexit negotiators: how to manage the Irish Border. The UK government has frequently emphasised its desire to see the continuation of Read more >

5 July 2017, The Irish Independent Put simply, Brexit is a disaster for Ireland. Despite assertions of some commentators, there are very few – if any – positives for Ireland. Minimising and managing the impact on Ireland of this decision will be arguably the most significant challenge the State has faced in its short history. Read more >

17 May 2017, The Irish Examiner Brexit will trigger a tenfold increase in customs declarations on Irish soil and fresh checkpoints close to the border are being considered for when Britain leaves the EU, the head of Revenue has said. A top civil servant overseeing Ireland’s Brexit negotiations admitted that the Government did not seek Read more >

The Irish Times, 20 February 2017. Checks are inevitable once the North joins the rest of Britain outside EU customs union There have been some suggestions in Ireland, since the Brexit vote of June 23rd, to the effect that Ireland and the UK ought to be allowed to cut a special deal to avoid the Read more >

Belfast Telegraph, 15 February 2017. Enda Kenny is confident the European Union will not allow “one of the most divisive borders in the world” to be reimposed on the island of Ireland after Brexit. In what has been billed as a major policy speech, the Taoiseach said Ireland has “no choice” but to successfully resist Read more >

9 January 2017, The Irish Independent. Phil Hogan tells John Downing the EU has a ‘vested interest’ and talks must centre on special case for our island Irish hopes of avoiding a “hard border” with the North after Brexit centre on the EU conceding a special case for treating the entire island as a single Read more >

12 December 2016, The Guardian It can probably be assumed that most leave voters gave little thought to the consequences of Brexit for Ireland. Had they done so, they might have thought twice about what they were setting in train; for those consequences are wide ranging and potentially very serious. Of the many historic irresponsibilities Read more >

17 November 2016, BBC News The UK leaving the European customs union would not create an “iron curtain” at the Irish border a leading academic has said. Prof Michael Dougan said that it would mean “an enormous amount of paperwork” for Northern Ireland businesses. The UK will have to decide if it will leave the Read more >

1 November 2016, Sky News With bilateral trade between Ireland and the UK topping £1.35bn a week, the Irish fear Brexit could devastate their economy Ireland’s Prime Minister will today host an unprecedented cross-border summit to address fears about the impact of Brexit on travel, trade, the economy and security. Enda Kenny TD has invited Read more >

25 July 2016, BBC News. Theresa May has visited Northern Ireland for the first time since taking over as prime minister. As home secretary campaigning to stay in the European Union, she described it as “inconceivable” that Brexit would not lead to changes to the border arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Read more >

18 October 2016.  Irish Times. The British prime minister Theresa May has written to First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness repeating her commitment that Brexit should not lead to a hard Border between NorthernIreland and the Republic. In letters dated last Friday, October 14th, Ms May responded to the joint letter Read more >

10 October 2016, BBC The UK is talking to the Irish government to determine the technical mechanism to maintain an open border and underpin the Good Friday Agreement, the Brexit secretary has said. David Davis said the government would maintain the Common Travel Area and all the benefits it had in Northern Ireland before the Read more >

14 Sept 2016, Independent. Brexit talks should begin “as soon as possible”, the President of the European Commission has said, adding that the European Union is facing a battle for survival against nationalism in Europe. Delivering a “State of the Union” speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, which sought to ease tensions and rally support for the EU, Jean-Claude Read more >

12 Sept 2016, The Irish News. IRELAND is cautious of British reassurances there will be no hard or heavily militarised border on the island after Brexit, Dublin’s Foreign Affairs Minister has warned. On the eve of Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire’s first official visit to Dublin, Charles Flanagan said the fate of the 310-mile frontier will Read more >

7 Sept 2016, Irish Independent. An open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic post Brexit wouldn’t pose a risk to Britain in terms of immigration, Ireland’s ambassador to London has insisted. Addressing the House of Lords EU Select Committee, Dan Mulhall said any effort to control the free movement of people on the island, Read more >

5 Sept 2016, BBC. Despite the sunny weather there is a sense of gloom in Dublin – both about the European Commission ruling on Apple and about Brexit. The Irish government has worries about how the UK vote will affect the common travel area that preceded both states joining the European Union, the estimated 1bn Read more >

31 August 2016, RTE. British prime minister Theresa May has set her face firmly against a second referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, telling cabinet colleagues that “Brexit means Brexit” and there will be no attempt to stay in the EU “by the back door”. Ms May was speaking at her country Read more >

27 Jul 2016, Irish Independent. 1   Bookies and money markets also get things horribly wrong  Opinion polls were discredited in Britain during the 2015 general election. They predicted a hung parliament, but David Cameron’s Conservatives won an overall majority. Polls right up to June 23 unconvincingly suggested a narrow win for Remain. But Remain advocates Read more >

27 Jul 2016, Irish Independent. I moved from Belfast to Bray in 1976 and remember following the furniture van containing all my worldly goods, ready to present a list of them to Irish Customs. It was a pouring wet day but the Customs officer insisted on the worldly goods being unloaded, to make sure the television Read more >

22 Jul 2016,  Irish Times. Northern Secretary James Brokenshire says Common Travel Area will be top of his agenda Before the referendum, Irish politicians and other public figures warned of the many adverse consequences of Brexit for the British-Irish relationship, political, economic and social. Chief among the concerns was the future of the Common Travel Read more >

Irish Independent. GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has all but ruled out making Ireland a ‘special case’ in the post ‘Brexit’ negotiations with Britain. Ms Merkel today twice declined to issue such guarantees, adding that Ireland’s concerns will treated on par with those of the remaining 27 EU member states. But Ms Merkel did give a Read more >

26 Jun 2016, Belfast Telegraph. Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron has said talks are to begin with the Irish government on the “challenges” over the border with Northern Ireland in preparation for the UK’s departure from the EU. He also said the European Union exit negotiations will involve Northern Ireland, alongside the Scottish and Welsh administrations. Read more >

20 Jun 2016, Belfast Telegraph. People are becoming increasingly concerned about the restoration of border controls if Britain leaves the European Union. The Ipsos MORI poll shows that almost a third of voters believe the appearance of checkpoints on the road to Dublin, or at our ports and airports, is the likely result of a Brexit. Read more >

1 Jun 2016, The Irish Times. Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers’s assurances about free movement between Britain and the Republic continuing unaffected if Britain leaves the EU “do not stand up one bit”, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said. His remarks came after former PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde said Ms Villiers “continues to keep her head firmly Read more >

1 Mar 2016, Irish Times. Border controls with the North would be reimposed if Britain left the European Union, a British government report has stated. The cabinet office report on the consequences of leaving the EU also warned that the future of the common travel area would be in doubt…..Irish Times