Should the UK introduce border checks with Ireland over migration concerns?
The UK and Ireland maintain the Common Travel Area, allowing British and Irish citizens to travel freely without routine passport or immigration checks on the land border or most CTA routes. No fixed border checks operate on the Ireland-Northern Ireland land border, though the UK runs intelligence-led operations like Operation Comby and Operation Gull to target people smuggling and abuse by third-country nationals. Recent enforcement has led to hundreds of arrests and removals since 2024 amid concerns over migrants using Ireland as a backdoor into the UK.
5 Opinions
Everyone gets checked don't they? Why mess with things?
Free movement for Irish people between the North and the Republic doesn’t mean you don’t check it’s only being used by the Irish
This was the impossible position brought on by the idiotic “brexit means brexit” hardliners who didn’t understand the realities of the UK-Eire border.
I'll assume this means RoI. In which case, the question becomes, "Should we have border checks at our EU border?" Not tricky ... we should have the same checks as for a flight or boat from the EU, surely? I know we don't. But we should. RoI isn't in Schengen, but we have no jurisdiction over its long coastline.
No brainer, if there is a danger of illegal crossing of the border, both countries have an issue with illegal immigration, than such checks would benefit both countries. It is also the matter of domestic criminals seeking refuge in other country. There is a reason for exitance of borders.