THE DUBLIN government has voiced serious concerns over the British government's plans to impose controls on non-Irish EU citizens crossing into the north.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney yesterday appealed for "special treatment" for Ireland after Westminster backed the reinstatement of a US-style visa waiver that requires EU citizens who are not Irish to apply online for pre-travel clearance – known as Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) – before travelling north across the border.
While the British government insists it will not mean checks between the Republic and Northern Ireland, the plan has nonetheless proved controversial.
Mr Coveney raised the issue with Secretary of State Brandon Lewis at yesterday's British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Dublin.
"The concern we have is that for many, many years now the British and Irish governments have worked together to ensure free movement in the island of Ireland, north and south, is protected," the Fine Gael deputy leader said.
Describing the relationship between the Republic and the north as unique, he said he was hopeful Dublin's concerns would be heeded as the legislation was not yet finalised.
"I suppose not for the first time we'll be asking for special treatments to try to protect that relationship," the minister said.
Mr Lewis played down concerns about the ETA and stressed that there would be no checks at the border.
"The ETA is a system that countries around the world have been bringing into place over the last decade or so," he said.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald urged Taoiseach Micheál Martin to make direct contact with Boris Johnson on the matter.
"The British government is pushing forward with a requirement for EU citizens who are not Irish or British citizens to apply for travel clearance if they wish to travel from the south to the north of our island," she said.
"This is a shameful situation – it undermines the Good Friday Agreement and the Common Travel Area, and creates significant restrictions on freedom of movement on our island."
SDLP MP Claire Hanna said the British government had spurned an "open opportunity to drop this pointless and punishing change" when her former party leader Baroness Margaret Ritchie tabled an amendment in the House of Lords.
"This is a terrible piece of legislation overall, with a horrible approach to refugee and asylum issues," she said.
"It’s unthinkable that people who call this place home would be forced to apply for a visa to travel to work or for leisure."
