Irish border is not ‘weak’ says Charlie Flanagan

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has rejected claims from Northern Ireland’s police chief that weaker immigration checks in the Republic of Ireland are providing a route for criminals to enter the UK.

Mr Flanagan said George Hamilton’s comments were “not well-founded”. Earlier this week, Mr Hamilton told a Westminster committee that controls in the Republic of Ireland did not have the same “resource or focus” as those in Northern Ireland.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable was being questioned by MPs as part of an inquiry into the future of the Irish border, post-Brexit.