The British government has made no decision about its future relationship with the EU customs union, according to Northern secretary James Brokenshire.
That decision will have a direct impact on the status of the Border between the Republic and the North, but Mr Brokenshire emphasised he did not want to see a return to a hard border.
He was speaking at Iveagh House in Dublin, where he took part in a ceremony with Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan to sign an international agreement between Ireland and the UK.
The agreement will establish the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC), which will have an important role in the work to bring an end to the remaining vestiges of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland.
After the ceremony, the two engaged in talks on a range of issues including the need to reach agreement on the institutions in Northern Ireland dealing with the legacy of the past and the challenges posed by a UK exit from the EU.
First phase
At a press conference dominated by the issue of the Border, Mr Brokenshire said the British government was still in the first phase of assessing its approach to negotiations.
“We have enjoyed a common travel area for many, many decades, and decades before either country joined the then Common Market, now the EU.
It is with that resolve and that intent that we approach this, and why it is a priority for me to see that we do not see a hard Border emerging,” he said.
He said British prime minister Theresa May had been very clear that the British government did not want to see a return to the hard Borders of the past. The Northern secretary said the common travel area served Ireland and the UK very well.
“It is a priority that we are able to see the continuance of the movement of people and goods and services. It is a priority in the process to see that we do not move back to those old Border times,” he said.
Heartened
Mr Brokenshire said the UK was approaching negotiations working closely with the Irish government and he had been very heartened by discussions he had with Mr Flanagan and Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald.
Mr Flanagan said it was widely accepted that the impact of the UK withdrawal from the EU will have a greater impact here than in any other of the remaining 27 member states.
He said that while it was too early to say what the full impact will be, he had very positive discussions with Mr Brokenshire, Brexit minister David Davis and foreign secretary Boris Johnson.
“It is important that we recognise the progress that has been made since the Good Friday Agreement in arriving at a situation now where the Border is invisible. There needs to be an acceptance and an appreciation that in excess of 30,000 people a day cross the Border for work or for school or for college.”
He added, however, that it was important to note that the crucial negotiations will be between the EU and the UK.
