Mr. Bernard Boyle:

Like the Deputy, I am old enough to remember the time when there road closures and a hard Border, and the time before that, too. As Mr. Brady said, all the adverse consequences of Brexit have been well rehearsed. Border Communities Against Brexit has a particular concern, namely, the impact on communities on both sides of the Border, from Derry around to Dundalk. We have already experienced the negative effects of having a hard Border, a situation that persisted until what seems relatively recently in my lifetime. We know all of the negative effects on our region of Britain's departure from the EU. We know there many are connections along the Border corridor, on either side, including inter-family connections and inter-business connections. All of those connections will be negatively affected by Brexit and by a hard Border. The reason we are bringing our concerns to this committee is because it is charged with dealing with issues to do with the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

It was set up to bring communities together and encourage them to work together. The imposition of a hard border would be a direct contradiction because it would divide communities, families and social groups, north and south of the Border. It would be divisive. As to its effects, in the statement Mr. Fearon referred to the committee travelling on a fact-finding mission to eastern Europe. Deputy Declan Breathnach spoke about visiting Border areas to obtain information. A fact-finding mission was undertaken to the Estonian border and other eastern European borders to see how they affected business, trade and local communities and assess the negative social effects which could easily be transferred if there was to be a hard border here. Currently, the Border is seamless and invisible. A visit to Border areas at this time would be less effective than a visit by committee members to eastern Europea to see the effects felt there and projecting what would happen if there was to be a hard Border here.