Irish PM Enda Kenny issues border warning over Brexit

The EU would have to construct a new boundary between Northern Ireland and Ireland if the UK votes for Brexit, symbolising a return to “division, isolation and difference,” the Irish prime minister has said.

Enda Kenny says a vote to leave would result in a harder border running from Derry to Dundalk, which would “present an opportunity for others with malign agendas to exploit”.

“There is no version of this development [Brexit] that would avoid extra costs to governments, businesses, consumers and anyone seeking to travel between north and south,” Kenny writes in an article for the Guardian.

The taoiseach claims that although new administrative arrangements would be possible, the psychological effect of a harder border would be hugely damaging after decades of work to promote peace and reconciliation.

“My fear is that it would play into an old narrative – one of division, isolation and difference,” he writes. “Many thousands of UK visitors to Ireland in recent years know that the border between both parts of Ireland is barely visible. There is a seamless flow of people crossing.”

EU leaders including the president of the European council, Donald Tusk, have been lobbying British voters to remain in the 28-member bloc. During a visit to Portugal, Tusk said: “I would like to appeal to the British citizens, on behalf – I know that for a fact – of almost all Europeans and European leaders: stay with us.

“Without you, not only Europe, but the whole western community will become weaker. Together we will be able to cope with increasingly difficult challenges of the future.”

Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, went as far as to take out a full-page ad in the Daily Mail on Monday, telling the UK: “The decision is yours, but I would like you to know that Hungary is proud to stand with you as a member of the European Union.”

EU diplomats have been reassured by signs in recent days that the remain vote is recovering, but they have been warned that postal votes in southern England and some old Labour heartlands in northern England show strong support for Brexit.

Fearful that their interventions could prove counterproductive, EU leaders have oscillated between emotional appeals for the UK to remain in a reformed EU and dire warnings about the harsh terms the UK would face outside the single market.

The issue raised by Kenny of a new EU border on the island of Ireland has remained on the sidelines of the debate on the UK mainland but is viewed with deep alarm in Dublin and Belfast.

Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary and a prominent Brexit advocate, has said there would be no need for border controls with Ireland if the UK leaves the EU, citing the “common travel area” that has existed between the two countries since 1923.

But concern about a restored hard border is shared by the Sinn Féin leader, Martin McGuinness, who fears that a restoration of borders and customs tariffs would be a disaster for the Northern Ireland economy and could lead to a reversal for the still-incomplete peace process.

Support for Brexit is lowest amongst the Catholic community in Northern Ireland, but Sinn Féin is concerned that disillusionment with politics may dampen turnout. The party has also warned that Brexit would lead to stronger calls for independence in Scotland, as well as calls for a referendum in Northern Ireland on reunification with the south.

Kenny says in his Guardian piece: “In stating the Irish government’s position, we do so as a close neighbour of the UK, a European partner and a co-guarantor of peace in Northern Ireland. And as a friend. Our common membership of the EU provided an important external context to the Irish and UK governments working together for peace. It should not be discounted lightly.”

He has been so alarmed by the prospect of Brexit that he has been campaigning in the UK to try to persuade the Irish community to vote this week. He visited the north-west of England last week to urge people to vote to remain, but there is concern that younger Irish voters feel less affinity to the UK while older Irish voters share the general antipathy towards the EU.

Kenny argues that the EU’s role in the underpinning of peace has been vital but often underestimated. “Our common membership of the EU provided an important backdrop to the Irish and UK governments working together to secure peace in Northern Ireland,” he writes.

“When the Good Friday agreement was concluded 18 years ago, the detail of the negotiations and the agreement itself were brought about as a result of intensive engagement by the British and Irish governments in conjunction with the northern parties.

“But often underestimated was the international support for the process, not least that of the European Union. The EU has directly provided much-needed funding to Northern Ireland – almost €3bn in the six years to 2020 – helping the Northern Ireland economy and supporting new sustainable jobs.”