‘Return to violence’ Irish politician BLAMES BREXIT if unrest emerges in Northern Ireland
AN IRISH politician slammed Theresa May’s Brexit policy and claimed the Government’s current plans could trigger fresh violence over the ongoing fears of a return to a hard border.
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Neale Richmond, head of the Irish senate’s Brexit committee, stated any return to a hard border or physical checks would pave the way for future sectarian violence.
Mr Richmond said: “Customs barriers could drive a physical and emotional wedge down the island of Ireland was well as within communities in Northern Ireland.
“This is a very real fear based on fact.
“Put it simply, any customs checks on the Irish border and the related infrastructure would lead to a return to violence.”
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Customs barriers could drive a physical and emotional wedge down the island of Ireland
The senior Irish politician’s remarks acted as a rejection of the proposed ‘maximum facilitation’ partnership, which would involve using technology and a ‘trusted fader’ plan to reduce post-Brexit customs checks.
The option would however inevitably lead to some physical customs infrastructure being reimplemented at the border, which has raised concerns about a return to violence.
The lawmaker insisted his comments were not politically motivated, but were based on “very real fears”.
However DUP Leader Arlene Foster accused politicians in March of using “threats of violence” on the Irish border as a “bargaining chip”.
Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce conference, Ms Foster said: "I do object in the strongest terms to people who have limited experience of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, throwing threats of violence around as some kind of bargaining chip in the negotiating process.
“To do so is an insult to the people of Northern Ireland, who have worked so hard to bring peace to our country."
Referring to her own experience of sectarian violence during The Troubles, she said: “I can remember the evening when the IRA shot my father.
“In a bloodstained state he crawled into our kitchen.
“I remember the day the IRA bombed my school bus, severely injuring the girl sitting beside me.
“So growing up in that kind of environment means that optimism is an essential part of one's character.
“Incidentally when I speak about the border in some Brexit scenario, I don't speak about some far away land. I speak about home."
Ms Foster has stated the DUP will not accept any Brexit outcome which could lead to regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.