She will also reassure Northern Ireland that border controls will not be imposed on people entering the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.
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The statement said her negotiations with the Stormont Executive would recognise “the particular circumstances that affect Northern Ireland”.
Northern Ireland on June 23 voted to stay in the European Union, with 56 percent voting “Remain”, putting it at odds with the United Kingdom’s 52-48 percent result in favour of leaving.
Leaders north and south of the Irish border want to ensure that people and goods can continue to cross freely, as well as maintaining decades of open travel and trade across the Irish Sea that predate the countries’ simultaneous accession to the European Union in 1973.
Political leaders have said there is no appetite for a return of watchtowers on the Irish border.
However, questions and concerns have been raised about what this means for the CTA and for both economies in the wake of the UK’s Leave referendum result.
Former justice minister David Ford is among a cross-community group of politicians and human-rights activists involved in the bid. The plan is just one idea being discussed to be part of the Brexit negotiations, and the talks are still in early stages, the newspaper said, citing high-ranking United Kingdom officials it didn’t identify.
That view is not shared by the Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, who will also meet Ms May during her Belfast visit.
“I look forward to underlining the Government’s commitment to the Belfast Agreement and its institutions, and to working with local parties and the Irish Government to fully implement the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements”.
Britain and Ireland share an open-border Common Travel Area that dates back to the 1920s, continuing arrangements from before Irish independence.
The June 23 vote to leave the European Union has raised questions over the future of the open border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which will become Britain’s only land frontier with the bloc. “I made clear when I became prime minister that I place particular value on the precious bonds between the nations of the United Kingdom”, May said in the statement.
“Peace and stability in Northern Ireland will always be of the highest priority for my government”.
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The group, as part of its legal argument, stated the British government must accord “adequate weight” to the fact that a majority of people in Northern Ireland – 56 per cent – voted to remain in the EU.
