Theresa May will reassure the first minister of Northern Ireland that there will be no return to border checks for people entering the UK from the Republic of Ireland despite Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

The prime minister will make the pledge to Arlene Foster during a visit to Belfast on Monday, during which she will also promise to engage with the region’s devolved administration in preparation for Brexit negotiations.

Speaking ahead of the trip that completes a tour of all four parts of the UK within the first two weeks of her premiership, May said: “I made clear when I became prime minister that I place particular value on the precious bonds between the nations of the United Kingdom.

“I want to assure the people of Northern Ireland that I will lead a government [that] works for everyone across all parts of the United Kingdom, and that Northern Ireland is a special and valued part of that union.”

May said she wanted to underline her commitment to the Belfast agreement, arguing that “peace and stability in Northern Ireland will always be of the highest priority for my government”.



She added: “I have been clear that we will make a success of the UK’s departure from the European Union. That means it must work for Northern Ireland too, including in relation to the border with the Republic. We will engage with all of Northern Ireland’s political parties as we prepare for that negotiation.”

It is understood that May will support the position of the Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, that there will be no “hard border” between the two countries, which have a common travel area.

Critics will question how that would be possible given the strong desire, particularly in England, to restrict freedom of movement after Brexit. There are currently no checks when someone passes from Ireland into the UK.

Two days before the EU referendum last month, May said it was “inconceivable” that there would be no hard border in the event of Brexit. She told the BBC: “If we were out of the European Union with tariffs on exporting goods into the EU, there’d have to be something to recognise that between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

“And if you pulled out of the EU and came out of free movement, then how could you have a situation where there was an open border with a country that was in the EU and had access to free movement?”

The debate over the Irish border comes as some Conservative MPs on the right of the party hit back at the suggestion that EU officials are considering plans to allow Britain to retain single market access alongside a seven-year emergency brake on freedom of movement.

John Redwood MP said any such deal would betray the referendum result. “The UK did not recently vote for a slightly beefed up version of Mr Cameron’s attempted renegotiation with the EU. We voted to leave, to take back control of our laws, our money and our borders. Those phrases were repeated throughout the leave campaign, heard and understood by many, and approved by the majority of voters,” he wrote on a blog.

“The rest of the EU is missing the point. There should be no negotiation over taking back control of these important matters.”

Redwood said that when the Conservatives lost the general election in 2005, they did not try to overturn the result, take anyone to court or demand a rerun. “We accepted the verdict of the UK voters.”

Ahead of May’s visit to Belfast, a legal challenge to Brexit is set to be launched in Northern Ireland by a cross-community group including former justice minister David Ford.

The group’s solicitors have said they will bring a judicial review before the high court in Belfast unless May guarantees certain legal safeguards, in particular the statutory recognition of the Good Friday Agreement and that any Brexit deal has the assent of the Stormont assembly.

The Green party leader, Steven Agnew, and the Social Democratic and Labour party leader, Colum Eastwood, are part of the legal challenge as well as senior Sinn Fein Stormont assembly member John O’Dowd.



The letter, which will go to May and the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, also demands that any agreement satisfies the requirements of EU law incorporated into the law of Northern Ireland, and says lawyers will take any aspect of their case which refers to EU law all the way to the Europe’s highest court, the court of justice of the EU.