Dr. Katy Hayward:

One point has been rather lost in the discussion about potential impact of Brexit on the Border region, and that is the position of cross-Border workers, that is, people who live on one side of the Border and work on the other. The Centre for Cross-Border Studies has conducted reports that estimate that 23,000 to 30,000 people are in this position.

This includes not just British and Irish citizens, but other EU citizens and other workers. The logic of European integration has been to offer protections for them, which has been crucial for facilitating developments in the Border region. This includes such things as aggregation of social insurance payments and access to services which are not just for the workers themselves, but also their families. Once the UK leaves the EU, the protection offered to these workers will be gone, including the principle of non-discrimination, which will no longer apply. This is a direct concern not just for people who work directly in the Border region, but also other Irish citizens who cross the Border daily to work.