EDINBURGH (Sputnik), Mark Hirst —British ministers are treating the possible ramifications of the Brexit vote for the whole of Ireland as an "afterthought," according to Anderson.
"Those in favour of an EU exit… are being disingenuous when they claim it is highly unlikely that custom posts would be introduced in Ireland," Anderson, who used to serve as a junior minister in Northern Ireland's Executive Office, said.
Among the UK politicians who are downplaying the fears that border posts would be reestablished between the British controlled province of Northern Ireland and the Irish State is former UK Secretary of State for Environment Owen Paterson.
"So this idea that we will put up the barriers on every little lane in Fermanagh and Monaghan is just completely laughable. It is not going to happen. We will come to an agreement with the Republic of Ireland and the first thing we will do if there is a Brexit vote is sit down and see how we continue the common travel area," Paterson told Sputnik.
Owen added the UK Government would seek to secure an agreement in the wake of a Brexit vote that would ensure the continued free movement between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Paterson noted that there are on average 50,000 truck movements each day between the north and south of Ireland and 1.5 million metric tons of goods imported into Ireland from the United Kingdom every year.
The six county province of Northern Ireland was partitioned by Britain in 1922 according to a treaty with the Irish Free State following the Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921.
The peace process resulted in the removal of previous border controls between the north and south of the island and ultimately the disarmament and disbandment of militant groups on both sides of the conflict, including the Provisional IRA.
