Dublin Welcomes London’s Proposals on Post-Brexit Irish Border Arrangement

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Wednesday welcomed the UK government's proposal on the post-Brexit arrangement regarding the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, the UK government published a comprehensive paper, which, among other issues, called for the return of "a hard border" on the movements of goods to be avoided, meaning that there should be no physical infrastructure along the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"It is certainly helpful to move the process forward," Coveney said commenting on the UK government's proposals as quoted by the Financial Times newspaper, stressing that they "reflected the kind of language the Irish government has been using."

At the same time, the Irish foreign minister added that his country was part of the EU negotiating team, with Michel Barnier, the EU chief Brexit negotiator, "representing Irish interests as well as European interests as part of the negotiations."

On Tuesday, the UK government published a paper making suggestions for future customs relationships with the European Union after Brexit. Specifically, the document focuses on two broad approaches, including the creation of "the freest and most frictionless trade possible" between the United Kingdom and the European Union, as well as a new UK-EU customs partnership that would remove "the need for a UK-EU customs border."

Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union officially kicked off on June 19, and are due to be completed by the end of March 2019.