Foster accuses former PMs of attempting to cause instability

Former British prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major have been sharply criticised by Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster following their claims that a Brexit vote would harm the peace process.

The First Minister accused the two former leaders, who travelled to Derry yesterday to push for a Remain vote in the June 23rd referendum, of being the ones who were attempting to cause instability.

"Things must be getting quite desperate within the Remain campaign that we see figures such as two former prime ministers coming to Northern Ireland to bolster their arguments," Ms Foster told The Irish Times.

"The irony, however, won't be lost on people that [they were] talking about creating constitutional uncertainty when they are advocating a position that hands sovereignty to Brussels. I have no doubt that people will reflect on that fact.

“It is scandalous, however, for people who know full well the importance of the peace process, to suggest that a vote to leave will somehow undermine peace here,” she said, adding that voters would not heed “scaremongering and fear”.

Saying that peace and progress in Northern Ireland "is in our own hands", Ms Foster criticised similar declarations by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan.

Dismissing Mr Flanagan’s warning that Border controls were inevitable if the UK voted to quit, she said nobody in the Republic or Northern Ireland wanted to see this happen. A bilateral deal was “entirely possible”.

Cross-Border traffic on major roads was already logged by high-tech ANPR cameras, while “huge” technological progress in recent years meant that Border crossings could be monitored in ways undreamt of in past decades.

The DUP leader said the Swedes and Norwegians had a long-standing agreement that ensured that either state could check goods out of and into the neighbouring state, ensuring minimal costs for traders.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers has said claims of Border restrictions are "far-fetched", since Irish citizens would continue to enjoy rights that would not be shared with other EU citizens.

“If migration rules changed and non-Irish EU citizens crossed the Border without a lawful right to enter, they would not be able to work lawfully or open a bank account or rent a home and could potentially be removed,” she said. Irish citizens had “always had special status in the UK and always will”.

“The Common Travel Area has existed since the creation of the Irish State in the 1920s and it will continue after a vote to leave the EU.”