Brexit may hike border smuggling, warns former taoiseach John Bruton

Former taoiseach John Bruton has warned that Brexit could increase smuggling along the border.

The ex-EU ambassador to the US said that he does not envisage passport checks on routes in and out of Northern Ireland once the UK completes the split.

But in response to a direct question at the House of Lords EU Select Committee on whether Brexit could be abused and become a smugglers’ charter, he said: “Yes is the answer to that question too.”

Mr Bruton joined former taoiseach Bertie Ahern to set out their biggest concerns for the Irish and Northern Irish economies and communities post-Brexit.

A recent suggestion that Irish ports and airports would become proxy points of entry into the UK and a type of frontier for British immigration checks was dismissed by Mr Ahern.

“I quite frankly just found that unbelievable,” he said.

“To put that suggestion forward is a total lack of understanding of how people think, north and south, of either tradition. It just would not happen.”

The idea was floated in recent weeks with Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire saying that governments in London and Dublin would work to strengthen the Republic’s external borders after Brexit.

The opinions of the former taoisigh were sought as part of the parliamentary committee’s inquiry into the impact of Brexit on UK-Irish relations, the peace process, the return of a hard border, and how the common travel area between Britain and Ireland could be affected.

Mr Ahern urged the Government to appoint a dedicated minister to deal with Brexit.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has stressed the need for Irish farmers to reduce its dependency on the UK market.

Speaking in the Seanad on the impact of Brexit on product prices in the agricultural sector, Mr Creed said the aim of his department was to develop new markets.

He said he would be travelling to North Africa and the Gulf regions to provide “as many markets as possible” for Ireland’s agri food exports.

The Cork minister said his department is working with the Northern Ireland Agriculture Department on a joint work programme and that he intends to meet with the UK secretary of state in early December.

Also, the Government has decided to make a bid to become the location for the offices of one of the agencies set up to deal with the crash — the European Banking Authority (EBA).

Finance Minister Michael Noonan announced that the Cabinet is to make a public declaration of interest in Ireland becoming the base of the agency.

The agency has to move from London as a result of Brexit. A number of other EU states, including Germany, Poland, France, and Sweden, are interested in hosting the EBA. However, the Government’s pitch is that Ireland, “with its significant financial services sector and efficient transport links to other European capitals, is ideally suited for the authority’s relocation”.