Page 11 - Aequitas Europa

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government. The British government’s response was the consultation paper 33 a view of a need for UK/Irish
28
passing of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 , seeking nationals to comply with passport checks between their
to halt the conflict by endorsing two areas of Home Rule countries. An ambiguous area of this paper was whether
– that of the North and the South. This was rejected by these same checks would be a necessity for UK citizens
Dail Eireann with the argument that they already had the when travelling between NI and the mainland; with NI as
29
mandate for home rule, across the whole of the island ; a part of the UK this was seen by Unionists as a matter of
30
in the north the ‘Unionist’ Ulstermen accepted the Act grave concern. They were referred to a House of
th
and sought to create a government. That division of the Commons debate in 14 January 2008 where the Minister
island is still the position today. of State for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality, Liam
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Byrne, referred to s14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006,
Common Travel Area which gave police a power to gain information of
passengers, crew and services on all air and sea travel
One part of this tumultuous time which has been within the UK. He suggested that this power would only
maintained, albeit sporadically, is the Common Travel be used between the UK mainland and NI, without an
Area (CTA). It sprang from the emergence of the Republic, absolute requirement for passports but for passengers to
in an informal agreement in 1923. Its admirers could liken produce “…one of several types of documentation,
it to a precursor to the EU’s free movement policy including passports, when travelling, to enable the carrier
enacted under the Schengen Agreement 1985, which to meet the requirements of a police request”.
invoked the removal of interior border checks (but This policy might easily be read as discriminating to NI
‘compensated’ for by heavier external checks, ergo the citizens and only fans the flames of Unionist fears, with
term ‘Fortress Europe’.) and has shown itself to be a them or those travelling to or from their land being
strong and flexible agreement. Whilst for the majority of treated very differently to those travelling between
its near 100-year history it has been an informal and England, Wales and Scotland.
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adaptive agreement between Britain and Ireland , it did The House of Lords Select Committee on the European
35
however softened the change from movement around Union published within their paper on UK-Irish relations ,
what was previously ruled as another part of the UK, to broad views concerning the future of the CTA: one
that between the then new Republic and the UK. The opinion was that as neither the UK or Ireland had been
agreement has generally meant that a citizen of either signatories to the Schengen Agreement then the CTA
country would be viewed by the other state as if they could continue, although with the necessity of both
were a citizen of their own. This meant that a passport concerned Governments to persuade the rest of the EU
was not a requirement and by association nor was a visa of such a unique need. There were also views in contrast,
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or residency papers. such as Fianna Fail’s , which stated that Brexit was a “real
This has varied over the years, with requirements for and substantive threat to the very existence of the
various forms of identity being needed for inter-state Common Travel Area”, commenting further on the UK’s
travel and questions arising about the potential potential use of passport controls, as the UK may see it,
introduction of a need for travel with a passport; in 2008 to ‘prevent the land border being used as a back door into
32
the new UK Border Agency had published within a the UK’.

28 Whilst this could be seen as reactive and therefore hastily thought out – the 33 “Strengthening the Common Travel Area” 24 July 2008
discussions as to the ‘proper’ amount of counties in the North is always
ongoing – it might be noted that the British government had previously made webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100408213116/http://www.ukba.hom
eoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/consultations/strengtheningt
efforts to be somewhat proactive; it enacted the Irish Law Commission hecommontravelarea/travelareaconsultation?view=Binary accessed
following the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881, giving tenants a right to buy the 28.01.2018
land from their(largely protestant) landlords, and following this was the 34 Also author of the foreword to the above consultation paper. The same
Reform Act 1884 allowing broader voting across Ireland; these were efforts to suggestions for document checks as made in the H of C debate are to be
perhaps pacify an increasingly rebellious populace, although they evidently found in ‘Proposals’; p7 of the consultation paper. Effectively, the
were not successful.
29 This view, of Ireland being one island, one country, was maintained by the ‘strengthening’ suggested in the paper is not of bonds within the area, but
Irish Republic (’United Ireland’) until the Good Friday agreement in 1998, in that of strengthened security checks between the nations and between NI
and mainland UK.
which the Republic backhandedly ceded that there were two countries by
35 House of Lords European Union Select Committee , UK-Irish Relations, (07
acknowleging a border.
30 Irish Unionism (and ‘Loyalists’) being of the belief in a continuing union September 2017), ch 3 , paras 110-115
between the countries of the British Isles, most specifically of that of Northern https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201617ldselect/ldeucom/76/7606.ht
m#_idTextAnchor042 accessed 23.01.2018
Ireland and the mainland.
36 One of the two major parties in the Republic of Ireland, the ‘Republican
31 As well as the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
32 Now UK Visas and Immigration Party’, centre-right.