Ian Paisley – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Paisley on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what arrangements are in place for the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to cooperate to counter the Islamic terrorist threat and the potential utilisation by such terrorists of the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mr John Hayes

The UK and the Republic of Ireland have long enjoyed a Common Travel Area (CTA) free of routine border controls. However, there are long-established and effective working relationships between the police and intelligence agencies in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to mitigate threats. The Government takes protecting our border security very seriously, and there is a high level of collaboration on work with the Republic of Ireland to also strengthen the CTA’s external border.