dowlingm wrote:There is an impression abroad that the UK political establishment worries quite a bit about the implications for Scotland and not much about Northern Ireland, even though the peace process there is built on several pillars which leaving the EU at the very least shakes. There are occasional visa checks being done on some public transport services between Dublin and Belfast - some people don't realise that a visa for the UK does not automatically confer freedom of movement to the ROI as well. At least once someone has found that out (that there are checks) the hard way.
It is likely that the CTA would remain and that Ireland would continue to stay outside the Schengen area, but depending on the relationship with the EU going forward, customs controls may be required even if immigration controls are not. At present, there is no cross border railfreight operations between ROI and NI (no railfreight in NI at all), so no issue with that, but I suspect that as far as rail passenger services are concerned it would be more rolling spot checks than a full stop and check.
Agreed. Scotland is indeed the "will they or won't they" topic at this point. This becomes even more so with the only options being A) staying in the UK B) going it alone and regaining EU membership. No "special consideration" option; same with Northern Ireland. And from what has been reported in the press the EU "head honchos" want Britain GONE from the union. As if the UK insulted their mother at a dinner party...
As for the peace process I don't think it's that black and white pertaining to violence erupting again. In fact for the first time since the partition in 1922 both the Republic and the North have a seriously rock solid invested interest in something pertaining to economic gains/consequences. The North voted I think 56% Remain and 40-something % Leave. And to add to that support for a United Ireland has increased 5% or so since 2013(?) and bear in mind there are Catholics who want to stay with the UK. As long as both parties agree on wanting to be EU members I doubt the peace process will be jolted in any form; that includes any threats/attacks from one IRA splinter group or another. Even during the height of the Troubles both countries and their respective rail agencies (the CIE/Iarnrod Eireann and Ulster Transport Authority/Translink/NIR) shared a vested interest in supporting the Dublin-Belfast rail services. At times it surprises me that there even were trains crossing the border during that time given that -to an extent- Dublin wanted a say in affairs in Stormont and London had ended the original power sharing agreement in the early/mid 1970s and replaced it with "direct rule".
And yes the CTA absolutely must be preserved. Putting in a hard border would be like having your passport checked, etc. on I-95 and Metro-North's New Haven Line when crossing the NY/CT border if say New England became its own sovereign country. If the Enterprise was a non-stop express I can see rolling customs checks or even a check before boarding being a piece of cake with a "hard border", but that of course would never happen as it would lose out on riders from Drogheda, Newry, Portadown, etc.
george matthews wrote:I was pleased to notice the last time I was on the train from Dublin to Belfast there were no stops at all for checks. Though I was not happy when I had to get off at Newry and take a bus because of terrorist activity. I was nearly late for a class I was to take in Belfast.
It's happened as recently as last month. Of course "security situation" could mean any number of things.
http://www.newstalk.com/Part-of-railway ... rity-alert" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
On a related note here's an archived news clip from RTE from 1989 of the "Peace Train" being held @ Portadown -then at Newry and then Portadown again- due to a bomb scare north of Dunkalk (and no Cat Stevens wasn't onboard
)
http://www.rte.ie/archives/2014/1028/65 ... ace-train/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;