Irish Border

Plans to require EU nationals crossing the border into Northern Ireland to apply for electronic travel authorisations in advance raise serious human rights and equality concerns, the Oireachtas has been told. In an address to the Houses of the Oireachtas, Sinéad Gibney, chief commissioner of

Plans to require EU nationals crossing the border into Northern Ireland to apply for electronic travel authorisations in advance have been backed by MPs despite being branded as "essentially unworkable". The contentious provision in the Nationality and Borders Bill was removed by the House of Lords,

Westminster legislation which would require non-Irish EU citizens to apply for pre-travel clearance before crossing the border is "unworkable and would be unenforceable", a Sinn Féin MLA has said. Speaking in the Assembly yesterday, Dr Caoimhe Archibald, MLA for East Londonderry, said the pro

The UK government has backed down on its threat to breach international law in respect of the Northern Ireland part of the Brexit deal after reaching an agreement with the EU. The government has now agreed to withdraw clauses 44, 45 and 47 of the UK Internal Market Bill, which it had previously admi

Human rights organisations have urged US president-elect Joe Biden to help protect the Good Friday Agreement as the UK reaches the end of the Brexit transition period. A briefing paper signed by 14 organisations north and south of the border was sent to Biden's transition team, in particular to thos

The slow progress of UK-EU talks poses a "real threat" to the Northern Ireland peace process, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said in her first discussion with her northern counterpart. Ms McEntee spoke with Justice Minister Naomi Long by phone yesterday in their first direct conversation since t

The UK government has come under pressure from a Westminster committee to set out how it will facilitate "unfettered" trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain under the Brexit deal. In a new report, the Northern Ireland affairs committee said the UK's proposals for implementation of the Nort

Proposals for the implementation of the Northern Ireland part of the Brexit deal have been published by the UK government. A new 25-page document sets out how the UK proposes to meet its obligations under the Northern Ireland Protocol, though Tánaiste Simon Coveney said parts of the document

Concerns have been raised that contact tracing apps designed to track the spread of coronavirus will not work north and south of the Irish border. Amnesty International has written to the entire Northern Ireland Executive to clarify its plans for a COVID-19 tracking app, with the UK government promo

The Northern Ireland Secretary is not required to publish a policy setting out the circumstances in which he would direct the holding of a border poll, the Court of Appeal in Belfast has ruled. Delivering the judgment, Lord Justice Stephens said the decision to hold a border poll involves "political

A landmark case concerning the circumstances in which a border poll will be held in Northern Ireland will be heard by the Court of Appeal in Belfast today. Victims' rights campaigner Raymond McCord is appealing the High Court's June 2018 ruling that the Northern Ireland Secretary does not have to ma

A Belfast-based human rights organisation has submitted a complaint against Translink for breaching its equality requirements by failing to consider the impact of facilitating passport checks on its cross-border services. The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) has submitted a breach of

Academics in Dublin, Belfast and London have launched a major new investigation into how any future referendum on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland would best be designed and conducted. An inter-disciplinary working group has been established by academics in the Constitution Unit at UCL,

Revised UK immigration rules go "against the grain" of the Good Friday Agreement because they remove the right of Irish citizens in Northern Ireland to be treated as EU nationals, human rights chiefs have warned. Les Allamby, chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC)

The UK Government has announced that temporary import tariffs to be imposed in the event of a no-deal Brexit will not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland. The details of the tariff regime were published today ahead of a vote in the House of Commons on whether or not to rule ou