Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I stated, we set up a section in my Department to look at the contingencies that might arise depending on the outcome of the vote. Deputy Pearse Doherty is speculating on the outcome of the negotiations. For our part, we want to maintain our common travel area, as does the current British Government, and to maintain our free and open Border. We do not want a hard Border, with customs, checkpoints and all the rest of it. I made this point during the run-in to that referendum. When I went to Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, I made the point that these things are not fully within our control. I also made the point that, in matters of trade, we are speaking from the perspective of being a member state of the European Union if it is the situation that Britain does not have access to the Single Market. As I pointed out to Deputy Pearse Doherty, acceptance to and entry into the Single Market on a continued basis for Britain requires that it accepts the four freedoms of the Union, one of which is the free movement of people.