“No one wants a return to the border of the past.” she said.
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Theresa May said there is a focus on preserving the common travel area and added that the peace process in Northern Ireland must not be undermined.
In recent years the relationship between both our countries has gone from strength to strength, building on the success of Her Majesty the Queen’s historic visit to Ireland in 2011.
Northern Ireland 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.
LONDON and Dublin are agreed there will be no return to a hard border between the north and the Republic, taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted after Downing Street talks.
Britain and Ireland share an open-border Common Travel Area that dates back to the 1920s, continuing arrangements from before Irish independence.
May has said she will not begin formal negotiations to leave the European Union until there is a United Kingdom -wide plan for British exit, known as Brexit.
May added: “We are both fully committed to working together in support of the Northern Ireland Executive to build abetter, stronger, safer future for the people of Northern Ireland”.
The UK-wide vote to Leave has triggered intense political wrangling in Northern Ireland, where the majority wanted to stay.
Political leaders in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic are insisting that open travel will be able to continue, along with trade across the Irish Sea that predates the province’s entering the European Union in 1973.
In her first visit to Northern Ireland since she was named prime minister of Britain, Theresa May traveled to Belfast Monday to assuage these fears.
Solicitors have threatened to take a judicial review before the High Court in Belfast – and ultimately to Europe’s highest court – unless Mrs May addresses legal obligations they say she must meet, including gaining the consent of the Stormont Assembly.
The leaders of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing administration were divided on the EU. “If we were out of the European Union, with tariffs on exporting goods into the EU, there would have to be something to recognize that, between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland” she told BBC Newsline in an interview in May. Of particular concern to politicians and locals is the status of the border between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.
“I speak for the people of the North, who are Unionist and Nationalist, and have made it clear that they see their future in Europe”.
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“Today’s meeting also gave us the opportunity to have a broader discussion on the common issues of concern in the context of the referendum result such as our close trading relationship and the benefits of the Common Travel Area”, he said.
