Ireland’s government has confirmed that discussions are under way with Britain to try to reach an agreement on how to secure the two countries’ borders after Brexit, control immigration and counter terrorist threats.

Irish and British immigration officials are already sharing intelligence about foreign visitors passing through airports and ferry ports by measures such as the personal information from biometric passports, the Department of Justice in Dublin said on Monday. It said the sharing of information from points of entry into both states was also part of a strategy to counter terrorism and organised crime.

A spokesman for the department said: “Clearly it is in the best interests of both Ireland and the UK to cooperate as fully as possible on these matters and that has been the approach adopted by both jurisdictions going back many years, including the introduction earlier this year of new arrangements to allow for the sharing of advanced passenger information between Ireland and the UK in order to further enhance the integrity of the common travel area (CTA).

“The development of the British-Irish visa system was facilitated by this arrangement and indeed could not have happened without the electronic sharing of information such as biometrics.”

As well as protecting the Anglo-Irish CTA, the Irish justice spokesman said there were mutual security concerns that prompted more cooperation in areas such as immigration control. “Negotiations on the UK’s exit from the EU have not yet begun and this process will of course involve a negotiation between the UK and all EU member states,” he said. “Any commentary now on what may emerge from those negotiations is speculative.

“However, it should be noted that it is vital, not just for Ireland but for all EU member states, that we are in a position to combat terrorism and serious crime through the sharing of relevant information in an appropriate manner. There are a number of ongoing EU initiatives in this area in which Ireland is committed to playing a full part.”

Earlier on Monday, two Irish government ministers said the republic would be prepared to allow for extra monitoring at its airports and ferry terminals to help the UK control post-Brexit immigration.

The finance minister, Michael Noonan, said there could be the usual “normal checks” at points of entry into Ireland which would keep tabs on any illegal immigration using the Irish border to enter the UK.

Even though Northern Ireland voted 54% in favour of staying in the EU, the overall outcome of the 23 June referendum means the region will be outside the EU when Britain leaves.



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In response to the proposal by the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, for a new ramped-up intelligence system between the republic and the UK to clamp down on illegal migrants, Noonan said: “So, if you do not have a border, going from Newry going across, dividing Sligo and Donegal from the northern counties, the next step is to have your controls at the ports.

“So that would mean Rosslare, and Larne [sea ports], and the airports, but that wouldn’t be much more than the normal checks we have at airports already, where you show your passport.”

Noonan and his cabinet colleague, the Irish justice minister, Frances Fitzgerald, welcomed Brokenshire’s opposition to any “hard border” arrangements on the UK’s only land frontier with an EU state as well as his promise that the CTA would continue after Brexit.

Fitzgerald said there was “not anything surprising” in Brokenshire’s views and that such a move would avoid the re-establishment of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. He said: “The whole question of security in the ports as well as our interests is going to be an area where there is more focus on in relation to the risks of terrorism and security cooperation.

“I envisage the security co-operation continuing and developing if anything over the next number of years. There is not anything surprising in what he has said.”

Brokenshire had earlier told the Guardian that London and Dublin would work to strengthen Ireland’s external borders in order to combat illegal migration into the UK once it left the EU.

Brokenshire said there was now a “high level of collaboration on a joint programme of work” between the two states to control immigration.

“We have put in place a range of measures to further combat illegal migration working closely with the Irish government,” Brokenshire said. “Our focus is to strengthen the external border of the common travel area, building on the strong collaboration with our Irish partners.”

The Northern Ireland secretary added: “We are already working closely with the Irish government and other members of the common travel area to prevent people from seeking to evade UK immigration controls from entering via another part of the CTA. There is a high level of collaboration on a joint programme of work. This includes investment in border procedures; increased data sharing to inform immigration and border security decisions; passenger data systems enabling the collection and processing of advance passenger information; and harmonised visa processes.”

The Fine Gael-led coalition government has stressed, however, that any new intelligence gathering and data sharing system on people entering Ireland who may also travel into Northern Ireland must first win support among all of the republic’s EU partners.

Any system designed to enable the UK to control and monitor immigration via Ireland is bound to be politically controversial. One Sinn Féin MEP whose constituency includes the border region described Brokenshire’s suggestion as ridiculous.

Matt Carty, who represents the Midlands/Northwest constituency in the European parliament, said: “The Irish government and a succession of its representatives have been deferential to the British government from time to time. What we are saying is that this is not an occasion for this.

“We need to be pointing out the needs of this island and making demands for the Irish people. It is not their job to be pushing for the wishes of the British government.”