Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was relieved to read the letter from the British ambassador in The Irish Timesthis morning restating his government's commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, and to hear the comments by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland that the British Government had no intention of introducing border checks in this country. However, this runs counter to the clear statement in the Nationality and Borders Bill in Westminster. Amendments that would provide for an electronic system for travel authorisation, ESTA, style agreement for non-Irish citizens seeking to cross the Border were rejected by the House of Commons. This is something that impacts on every facet of life, not just in the Border region but across the country. What efforts are being made by the Government to continue to impress on the British Government its absolute commitments? The fact is that if we are going back to the days of being promised technological solutions, the British Government needs to go back and read the Good Friday Agreement properly.

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