Irish border dispute ramps up as DUP accuses Brussels and Dublin of Brexit ‘blackmail’
2 min read
DUP leader Arlene Foster has accused Brussels and Dublin of using the Northern Irish border to "blackmail" the UK over Brexit.
The intervention comes just days after Ireland’s taoiseach warned that Brexit talks could stall unless the UK came up with proposals to avoid a hard border with Northern Ireland.
Others have warned that imposition of a hard border in Ireland or any change in its constitutional position could spark new violence not seen since the Troubles.
But in a statement last night, Ms Foster said negotiators were “recklessly trying to use Northern Ireland for their own objectives”.
She added: “The people of Northern Ireland delivered peace and stability...
“Yes, they were supported beyond these shores, but to suggest that exiting the EU will bring violence onto our streets is downright careless.
“Those in Dublin and Brussels, recklessly trying to use Northern Ireland for their own objectives, should cease. The Prime Minister should warn Brussels that Northern Ireland must not be used as blackmail.”
Theresa May, Ms Foster and her DUP deputy Nigel Dodds will meet today to talk about Brexit and the restoration of power-sharing in the region, which has been without an assembly since the beginning of the year.
It comes after Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar urged negotiators to avoid a hard border with the republic by continuing to apply the rules of the EU’s single market and customs union.
Speaking at the British-Irish Council summit in Jersey, he said: "When it comes to the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, what we have all agreed to is that there shouldn't be a hard border, there should be no physical infrastructure along that border and that there should be no return to the borders of the past.
"That doesn't mean that they have to be members of it, but it would mean continuing to apply the rules of the single market and the customs union.”
The Northern Irish border has been a point of contention during Brexit negotiations, with Mrs May under pressure to find a solution to appease DUP leaders.
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