“Our departure poses particular challenges for Northern Ireland and for Ireland. We joined the EU together 45 years ago and it’s not surprising that our decision to leave has caused anxiety and a desire for concrete solutions.
“We have been clear all along that we don’t want to go back to a hard border in Northern Ireland. We have ruled out any physical infrastructure at the border and related checks and controls, but it’s not good enough to say “we won’t enforce it if the EU forces Ireland to do it, that’s down to them”.
We chose to leave and we have a responsibility to help find a solution. But we can’t do it on our own, it is for all of us to work together. And the Taoiseach and I agreed our teams should now do just that.
“Just as it would be unacceptable to go back to a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, it would also be unacceptable to break up the United Kingdom’s own common market by making a customs and regulatory border down the Irish sea.”
