Sir, – Retired ambassador Donal Denham (Letters, July 10th) suggests that Ireland should be a party to both the Schengen area and the Common Travel Area and cites the arrangement between Norway and Sweden as an example of how it could work.
He then implores Keir Starmer and the Taoiseach to grasp the moment to allow Ireland to do the same.
I fear that the worries the Irish Government has about people using Northern Ireland as a means to enter Ireland could go the other way if Ireland allowed free travel from Schengen areas.
As the new British prime minister is trying to control immigration into the UK, as part of his party’s manifesto, opening a new route would not find favour at this time.
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Indeed it could cause border tensions, which is the last thing needed at this moment.
I would not call it “brave” to ask because this could lead to a rebuttal and perhaps a deterioration in what one would hope is now a new and more friendly stage in relations between the two countries. – Yours, etc,
JOHN BERGIN,
Oxton,
Wirral,
UK.