Dublin has issued a protest at the UK government’s insistence on imposing controls on non-Irish EU citizens crossing the border into Northern Ireland.
Conservatives last night voted to reinstate for a US-style visa waiver requiring EU citizens who are not Irish to apply online for pre-travel clearance –known as Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) –before entering the UK at the Irish border.
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney denounced the decision as “regrettable” and said that Dublin’s concerns over disruption to free movement on the island of Ireland had been “ignored” by London.
But Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis insisted that it would not result in the imposition of controls on the border with the Republic.
And he said the UK’s commitment to the common travel area permitting free movement between the two countries remains “absolute”.
The row is the latest spat between London and Dublin over the fallout from Brexit, and comes against the backdrop of continuing divisions over Boris Johnson’s Northern Ireland Protocol which has disrupted trade on the island.
MPs voted by a majority of 298 to 216 on Tuesday to overturn an amendment introduced in the House of Lords, which would have exempted Northern Ireland from the ETA legislation.
The human rights group the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) condemned the move, which it said was “unworkable and risks a hard border for many non-British and non-Irish citizens in Border communities who have been able to freely cross the Border to date”.
And Mr Coveney said: “This decision is regrettable and contrary to the approach that UK and Irish governments have supported for many years to protect free movement on the island of Ireland for everyone.
“Our concern on this has been communicated clearly but has been ignored.”
Mr Lewis responded in a tweet: “There will be no controls on the border. UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel freely.
“This new ETA requirement is about protecting the Common Travel Area from abuse. Our commitment to the Common Travel Area is absolute, as seen throughout the pandemic.”
