Emma Reynolds, MP for Wolverhampton North East last week visited Dublin as a member of the House of Commons cross-party Brexit Select Committee as part of their investigations into how the government is handling the negotiations to leave the EU. The committee had a number of meetings with Irish politicians, including the Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney, about a range of issues relating to Ireland and Northern Ireland that are linked to Brexit. We discussed how Brexit could affect key sectors of the Irish economy and trade between the UK, Ireland and the EU.

Emma said, “Ireland is our closest neighbour, we have deep cultural, economic and trading links. I want those ties to be maintained post-Brexit.

“At the moment our citizens can live and travel freely between our two countries. Thousands of people live on one side of the border but work on the other. According to the Irish government there are 142 cross-border activities on the island of Ireland that would be negatively impacted by a hard Brexit. Every Minister and Irish MP or Senator we met stressed the need to avoid such a hard border.

“The British government has promised that there will be no hard border between the UK and Ireland after Brexit. However it is clear that it has no answer as to how to keep that promise. The government needs to provide some much needed clarity about its plans for the border. If customs checks and a hard border were introduced it would revive memories of the divisions of the past and threaten the hard won peace on the island of Ireland. It is vital that the border should continue to be as invisible and frictionless as it currently is.”

Do you have any views on the ongoing Brexit negotiations or have a view on what the Irish border solution should be? I want to hear from you. Please email me at: [email protected]

January 2018