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The British Prime Minister is to make her first visit to the Irish border since the Brexit referendum.<\/p>\nThe British Prime Minister is to make her first visit to the Irish border since the Brexit referendum.<\/p>\n
Theresa May had been criticised for not hearing first-hand from locals living on what is to become the UK\u2019s only land border with the European Union.<\/p>\n
The border remains a crucial sticking point in Brexit negotiations with the EU, amid a dispute on how to maintain free flow of movement across the 310-mile frontier in the North.<\/p>\n
Mrs May will meet business representatives on the Northern Ireland side of the border on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The following day she will deliver a speech in Belfast focusing on how her vision of Brexit, outlined in last week\u2019s Government white paper, will impact the North and the border.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to hearing views from businesses on the border in Northern Ireland on our departure from the European Union,\u201d said Mrs May.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fully recognize how their livelihoods, families and friends rely on the ability to move freely across the border to trade, live and work on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we have ruled out any kind of hard border. Daily journeys will continue to be seamless and there will be no checks or infrastructure at the border to get in the way of this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve also been clear we will not accept the imposition of any border down the Irish Sea and we will preserve the integrity of the UK\u2019s internal market and Northern Ireland\u2019s place within it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs May will meet the region\u2019s political parties on the two-day trip.<\/p>\n
The North has been without a properly functioning devolved government for 18 months due to a bitter fallout between the two biggest parties \u2013 Sinn F\u00e9in and the Conservatives\u2019 \u201cconfidence and supply\u201d partners at Westminster, the Democratic Unionists.<\/p>\n
Mrs May added: \u201cFrom the start of the negotiations, the UK Government has put Northern Ireland\u2019s unique circumstances at the heart of our negotiations. And nothing will undermine our commitment to protecting the Belfast Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also look forward to meeting political parties on working together to restore stable and effective devolved government for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n