Enda Kenny reiterates ‘no hard NI border’
Mr Kenny also said that Ireland must not prioritise “short-term” opportunities caused by the political crisis and should focus on longer-term needs.
Speaking at a crowded Brexit forum meeting in Dublin city’s Westin Hotel, Mr Kenny said the issues must be resolved sensibly.
Stressing the benefits of an open border with Britain and of the common travel area between the Republic, the North, and the UK, Mr Kenny said that both governments “have agreed” there must be no return to a hard border.
However, he added that “Britain will want a British solution” to its future relationship with the EU, and that if EU nations insist there can be no softening of the rules for the UK, he did not know what impact this may have on Ireland.
Mr Kenny also said Ireland cannot prioritise “tactical, short-term” opportunities caused by last June’s Brexit vote to the detriment of future needs.
He said that short-term thinking has been a consistent problem for Irish governments, and that the current coalition needs to focus on the long-term benefits of policies to Ireland.
“Maintaining a long-term view, identifying where we want to be as a country, and ensuring that we have the right policies in place to get us there has traditionally not been a strong suit in this country,” said Mr Kenny.
“We have too often been driven by the here-and-now, and insufficiently attentive to the challenges that lie further down the road.”
While acknowledging that there are ongoing issues within the EU which contributed to the surprise Brexit result and which must be resolved, the Taoiseach said that future decisions within the EU bloc cannot be a “moonshot”.
He said “sensible positions” must be taken to “implement important decisions and deliver concrete results for its citizens”, and that while the EU “doesn’t have to define the next great challenges”, it needs to demonstrate that it can “respond effectively to them”.
Mr Kenny’s comments came just days after the cross-border All-Island Civil Dialogue in Dublin, which was focussed on allowing detailed political, business, and social responses to the Brexit vote.
During that meeting, the Taoiseach said the UK’s departure from the EU could be triggered as soon as next month, instead of the expected March 2017 date.
The position was directly contradicted by Downing Street later in the day, and was followed 24 hours later by a UK court decision stating the Brexit result must be voted on by the British parliament.
Mr Kenny said yesterday that it “remains to be seen” whether the court ruling will delay any Brexit move.
