BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to northern nationalists that it is their “permanent birthright” to hold Irish citizenship.
In a message directly to nationalists on the day the British government publishes its proposals for the border after Brexit, Mrs May seeks to reassure Irish people about free movement on the island.
Writing in The Irish News for the first time, she declares that her “first priority” in Brexit negotiations “is protecting the unique and special relationship between the UK and Ireland”.
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Mrs May says Brexit was not a vote “to end the special ties between the UK and Ireland or to undermine the unique arrangements between Ireland and Northern Ireland which have underpinned the peace process”.
She says it is “inconceivable” that the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland could change.
Mrs May promises to “explore a potential” continuation of peace funding after the UK leaves the EU and that she is committed to an all-Ireland energy market.
“We will need an unprecedented approach for the border here, and this will mean careful work and imaginative approaches but today we set out our key principles,” she says.
“The first of those principles is stark: there should be no physical border infrastructure of any kind on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. I want people to be absolutely clear: the UK does not want to see border posts for any purpose."
And she adds that the Common Travel Area “allows British and Irish people to move freely across our islands, and is at the core of the deep social, cultural and economic ties that link us together”.
“It goes beyond just the ability to move between our islands without passport controls, and also means guaranteeing continuing rights for UK and Irish nationals to work and access public services. We believe it is inconceivable that it could change,” she says.
Mrs May concludes: “Today I want to reassure everyone in Northern Ireland that the UK leaving the EU will not jeopardise things you value profoundly. Your citizenship rights are permanent and inviolable; you will be able to work and live in Northern Ireland and Ireland exactly as now on a reciprocal basis; and we do not want any border posts between Ireland and the UK.
“I am determined to deliver a good Brexit deal for the whole UK, and my first priority is protecting the unique and special relationship between the UK and Ireland. No-one would pretend our history has always been smooth but as the UK begins a new chapter, it will not mean turning our back on the historic progress that has been made within Northern Ireland, and across these islands.”
