OVER the course of an increasingly energetic Brexit campaign, there is one question that keeps coming up. That is the question of whether or not leaving the EU will lead to the return of a 'hard' control on the Irish border.
In the first instance, this was a very straightforward question. Given that one of the key policy platforms of the Leave campaign is the need to stop immigration into the UK, it is obvious that borders with Northern Ireland would need to be secured.
This was confirmed by Nigel, now Lord Lawson, one of the genuine heavy hitters of the Leave campaign and again by UK Justice Minister Dominic Raab.
However, when the implications of this began to sink in with the Northern Irish public and the effects of reinstating border controls on economic development, agriculture, tourism and quality of life became clear, the Leave campaign clearly thought it necessary to muddy the waters.
Enter the Secretary of State Theresa Villiers. Eyebrows were raised when Ms Villiers first declared her position in support of Northern Ireland and Britain leaving the EU. Surely if anyone in the British Cabinet could see and understand the value of free movement of people and goods, it was the minister based in Hillsborough, just some 30 miles from the European frontier. However, that surprise was taken up a notch when she then attempted to contradict Lord Lawson on the issue of border controls and claim that he just wasn't properly briefed.
While those who don't want voters weighing up the impact of border controls seem intent on trying to confuse them, the issue seems very clear to me. Assuming that the Leave campaign is genuine in presenting immigration as a core issue, there are only two circumstances in which Ms Villiers can be correct in claiming that there will be no border control between NI and the Republic.
The first is that she intends to forget about the Irish border, ignore Northern Ireland's current constitutional position and move UK border control to British ports and airports. In doing so, the status of those in the north who strongly value their British identity, citizenship and freedom of movement lose the entitlements they currently have. Given the track record of the Conservative Party in general, and the profile of Exit campaigners in particular, this seems highly unlikely.
The second circumstance is one on which I have more authority and it is this; for the UK to actually control immigration in the event of Exit, while keeping the Irish border open, it would require the Irish government to take responsibility for somehow ensuring that the three million plus visitors who come to our country from Europe every year do not travel north of Dundalk or East of Bundoran without special permission from the UK government.
Let me confirm to Ms Villiers and her colleagues, we will not be doing that.
It is a transparently ludicrous notion and I would hope that even the most right wing elements of the Leave campaign would have more sense than to propose it. The situation regarding the border is as it has been since this referendum was proposed and as recognised by Lord Lawson on day one. If the UK votes to leave the EU, the hard border between north and south and all the negative connotations that go with it, will return.
Which brings us back to the Secretary of State. She is a senior politician operating at the highest levels of government in the UK. Her current claims about the implications of Brexit on the border force us towards two very uncomfortable conclusions. She is either genuinely unaware of the reality of the border and its implications, which raises its own questions. The alternative, her claim that the UK's exit from the EU will have no effect on its international border, is simply not credible.
My hope is that this attempt on the part of the Leave campaign to confuse and misdirect fails, and that at the very least people will get to vote on the basis of clear facts. Fianna Fail's very strong view is that Northern Ireland is better and stronger and more prosperous within the EU, but that decision rests with the citizens of Northern Ireland, who should be basing their decision on the basis of a truthful analysis.
