Ireland-Northern Ireland border

• Author: Viaggi, Raffaele; Rubio, Jean; Peyrony, Jean
• Pages: 36-37

ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF BORDER-RELATED MEASURE S TAKEN BY MS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

CASE STUDIES

36

Ireland-Northern Ireland border

Border controls and

cross-border mobility

(Reduced crossings points,

type of controls, congestion,

CB public transport…)

Unlike most of the other EU borders, the Northern Irish-Irish

border remained open throughout the whole period. Occa-

sionally, there were police controls. Police in the South was very

active: stopping people, asking why they were traveling. How-

ever, the police had no enforcement to stop people. In this

area, the authorities relied on the individuals and their per-

sonal responsibility.

“The police delivered a message on personal responsibility and

tried to raise awareness via a “triple E” principle: ‘Educate, Ex-

plain and Encourage.’”

Anthony Soares, Centre for Cross Border Studies

There was no official printed document to be presented at

any time, like in other EU regions.

Despite the open border, a significant fall in cross-border

traffic was recorded, except for goods.

Impact on the users of

cross-border public ser-

vices (CPS) (healthcare, in-

formation to citizens,

education…)

The creation of an App to track the virusand to alert the

people who were potentially in contact with infected individuals

represents an example of a serious lack of coordination

across the Irish border. This public measure was conceived by

the Northern Ireland government without allowing any com-

patibility with the other side of the border. It engendered po-

litical tension in Northern Ireland.

Another example is the Memorandum of understanding which

was signed between the Ministers of health. This text was more

about exchanging information and implied very few practical-

ities. However, practical problems linked to a lack of coordina-

tion still kept arising during the weeks which followed: the

Republic of Ireland introduced a regulation making it manda-

tory to wear face masks on public transport. In NI, masks

were not mandatory for passengers.