Electronic travel authorisation would breach Good Friday Agreement says Pringle

The proposed electronic travel authorisation for travel into Northern Ireland for non-Irish and non-British citizens would breach provisions of the Good Friday Agreement that allow for the free movement of people, a Donegal TD has asserted.

Addressing Minister Simon Coveney in the Dáil on Tuesday evening, Deputy Thomas Pringle (Independent) said: “This has very serious implications for Ireland and think the minister recognises that.”

He said that the minister, in speaking to the media on the issue, said the British government had failed to recognise the “very unusual construct and series of relationships and treaties and agreements” that relate to Ireland and the border.

Deputy Pringle raised the matter in a topical issues debate that had been rescheduled from last week, when no minister from the department appeared in the Dáil to respond to Deputy Pringle’s questions.

Deputy Pringle said: “In reality, while the UK has said there won’t be any checks, if you have a border system where you have to register, there has to be some provision or some allowance for checks on that system at some stage in the future.”

The House of Commons voted on March 22 against an amendment from the House of Lords that would have exempted cross-border journeys from proposed ETA requirements. Minister Coveney said it was important to note that the issue was not through Westminster yet.

The minister said the matter may well return to the House of Lords and the Commons, “so there is time to try and change this, and I assure you we will be very active in our attempts to do that”.

Deputy Pringle said: “I would like to know what you can do, other than impress on the British government the importance of not having the requirement, because that hasn’t worked too well up to now.”

The deputy said there must be some follow-up if the ETA goes ahead, because it is in breach of an international treaty that provides for the free movement of people.

The Ceann Comhairle had selected Deputy Pringle’s debate for last Thursday afternoon, but no minister appeared at that time. Sinn Féin deputies Pearse Doherty and Pádraig MacLochlainn also joined in the rescheduled debate on Tuesday.

Minister Coveney said he did not disagree with any of the points made, saying he thought the proposed requirement was “completely inconsistent with the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement”. The minister said for the British government to essentially make the case that the border is no different to any other borders the UK may have, “is patently nonsense”.

Minister Coveney said: “I’ve made very clear to Secretary of State Brandon Lewis that the Irish government cannot and will not support or condone this, and we will continue to lobby hard to change it, and I hope we’ll be successful.”