Mock border checkpoint built as protesters warn Brexit threatens peace

Actors dressed as armed soldiers manned lookout towers as part of the protest warning of the consequences of a no-deal withdrawal from the EU.

Latest: Hundreds of protesters have warned Theresa May that a hard border risks destroying Northern Ireland’s hard-won peace.

A mock checkpoint manned by actors dressed as soldiers and customs officers was constructed close to the frontier in Co Down on Saturday.

Hundreds of people joined the protest at the border near Carrickcarnan, Co Louth (Brian Lawless/PA)

If the UK leaves Europe without a deal, the free flow of goods could be disrupted by the creation of a hard frontier on the island, the European Commission has said.

Demonstrator Tom Murray, from Co Donegal, said it is British Prime Minister Mrs May’s responsibility to sort out the issue.

He said: “Ireland will not be made to suffer the folly of the Tory party.

The protest saw actors in military fatigues playing the role of soldiers manning a wall at the border (Brian Lawless/PA)

“We will not accept this border, we demand that London sort out the problem that they created.”

It is more than 20 years since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which largely ended decades of violence.

Mr Murray added: “All the peace and prosperity that we have enjoyed will be destroyed by a hard border.

“Communities could be dragged back into the old days of living in the shadow of someone else’s border.

An armed ‘soldier’ mans a lookout tower in the mocked-up border checkpoint (Brian Lawless/PA)

Security towers manned by the British Army in the hilly and remote area near the city of Newry were decommissioned in 2003 as it ended conflict-era operations in Northern Ireland in support of the police.

The Irish and British governments have said they want to avoid a hard border after Brexit, and multiple sources have said Britain’s withdrawal from the EU should not prompt a return to violence.

Some security sources have argued that if customs checks are put in place, police will be required to protect them and that could leave officers at risk from dissident republicans.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has received extra resources for Brexit but have officially envisaged light-touch, community-style policing.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney this week said it would be difficult to avoid installing new infrastructure following a no-deal Brexit.- Press Association

A mock tower is erected during a Brexit demonstration on the border near Dundalk. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/eLWeArTc0O

— Sinéad Hussey (@SineadHus) January 26, 2019

Mock wall to be built in protest against a hard border Brexit

Update 12.45pm: A demonstration is scheduled to take place at 3pm to highlight fears over the possibility of a hard border following Brexit.

The protest is due to occur on the old Dublin road between Dundalk and Newry at Carrickcaron.

Protesters will build a wall to demonstrate the impact infrastructure would have on local communities.

Sinn Fein have confirmed they will have representatives in attendance.

Border Communities Against Brexit's Damian McGinty said comments from the EU Commission on the border this week have increased concern locally:

"We're doing this, you see, because ordinary people do not want their community divided and we're expecting a very big crowd.

"There's a huge up-swell on social media.

"There's loads of people talking about it and people from particularly early this week when the Commission said that there would have to be a hard border, that's when people suddenly realised, 'oh goodness, this is getting real serious here'."