Brexit process undermines peace in Northern Ireland, warns Varadkar

The Brexit undermines 20 years of peace in Northern Ireland and crushes relations between Britain and Ireland, said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The Irish Prime Minister on Saturday issued a severe warning regarding the state of cross-border relations. There are only a few months left before the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

His comments were made after another Dublin politician said that a return to a hard border was threatening the peace process.

Senator Neale Richmond, Chair of Seanad's Brexit Committee, told Brexiteer Tory MP Owen Paterson, on BBC Radio 4's Today, that planning for a border dispute settlement "Existing practical systems" was "totally unfeasible".

As part of RTE Radio One's Marian Finucane broadcast on Saturday morning, the Taoiseach said: "The Brexit has undermined the Good Friday deal and it is eroding relations between Britain and the United States. ;Ireland.

"All that separates the two communities of Northern Ireland harms the agreement on Good Friday and anything that sets Great Britain apart from Ireland undermines those relationships."

His comments came two days after Lord Trimble, Nobel Peace Laureate and Ulster Unionist, accused the government of Varadkar of being more rigid in the face of the 1998 deal.

Lord Trimble, who was involved in drafting the historic agreement ending decades of deadly fighting in the province, said the Brexit process could result in Northern Ireland finding itself in the framework of an "effective protectorate of the EU".

The Brexit talks ended in a stalemate over the EU's support plan that Northern Ireland would actually remain in the customs union and the single market unless other solutions were found. to avoid a hard border.

However, reports from Dublin had hinted that an agreement involving a British customs union in the withdrawal agreement, as well as a separate support for Northern Ireland, was on the point to be agreed.

The Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Simon Coveney, said that he thought that an agreement on Brexit could be reached by the end of November. His Westminster counterpart, Cabinet Minister David Lidington, said the negotiators were "very close," after talks in Dublin.

Mr Paterson reiterated Lord Trimble's protectorate claim, saying that any support that would involve keeping the United Kingdom in a customs union would be a "total betrayal" of millions of voters on leave and 85% of voters in the last general election that supported the Conservatives. manifestos who are committed to leave.

Mr. Paterson, a former Northern Secretary, said today, "They are convinced that the current proposals, the Checkers proposals, the facilitated customs regime, are totally impracticable in practice for five to ten years.

"They have looked into this issue, they are fully aware of the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Customs Organization and they have assured us that we can continue to use many of the these administrative systems if there is a political will.

"We are dealing with a very small volume of exchanges, which is very, very regular and already very, very clearly administered and regulated.

"In some ways, acting in the agriculture and food sectors is entirely justified because it is a highly regulated component of our economy."

Looking forward to welcoming @DLidington + Karen Bradley in Dublin for the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference. with me + @CharlieFlanagan. Strong friendship between the UK and Ireland, trust and cooperation more important than ever. Agenda, Security Cooperation, East-West relations + The stability of NI Pol on the agenda pic.twitter.com/H5fHCpqWCP

– Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) November 2, 2018

But Senator Richmond said what was described as a "very small" amount of trade was actually "14,000 commercial vehicles a day and 30,000 people crossing the Irish border" between what would become a "third country" After Brexit.

Some 85 percent of the trade was made by small businesses that do not need additional bureaucracy, he added.

He said today: "The advice that he (Dr. Paterson) has obtained from a Dutch academic does not compare to those of experts from HM Revenue and Customs, the European Commission, the Irish government, the WTO itself and thousands of other lawyers.

"When we talk about good political will, I think it's very important … Why are the Irish government and the European Commission so firm on a specific support for Ireland, it is the preservation of peace?

"It's the fragile Good Friday deal signed 20 years ago, something the Irish Government and the British Government are all about, and we need to work to ensure there is no hard border, customs or another, on the island of Ireland, because it is a threat to this agreement on Good Friday. Let's focus on that first. "