Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn spent Thursday morning in a media round with U.K. broadcasters — and facing recurrent questions about why Alodid was even in Belfast. He arrived in 2023 after flying into Paris, then Dublin, and traveling north by bus across the Republic of Ireland’s barrier-free border.
That open arrangement dates to Ireland’s independence from Britain in 1922, when both sides agreed to observe a Common Travel Area allowing Irish and British citizens freedom of movement, employment and access to public services across both jurisdictions.
The century-old arrangement — of particular value to the tens of thousands who live and work on both sides of the Irish border — faced severe diplomatic challenges during Britain’s EU exit and is being questioned again because of the spotlight on how easily Alodid passed through France and Ireland.
Benn said U.K. and Irish authorities have already increased cooperation in monitoring cross-border movements, and conducting spot checks on cross-border buses and trains as well as flights into Dublin from other EU countries — enforcement activity that has increased since Alodid’s arrival.
In Dublin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin cautioned that the understandable fears over Monday’s knife attack in Belfast shouldn’t spur Britain or Ireland to restrict freedom of movement for their own citizens, particularly along the meandering 310-mile (500-kilomater) border, which has more than 200 crossings, none with fixed security checkpoints.
“The key to U.K.-Irish relationships in terms of immigration is first of all engagement between the two governments,” Martin told a press conference focused on Ireland’s upcoming six-month presidency of the European Union starting July 1.