Theresa May has arrived in Belfast to meet with the Irish Prime Minister, with hopes to advance the talks process.
May plans to meet political parties in Stormont as political talks with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) continue.
“The government has consistently said that the restoration of the institutions is essential in the context of full implementation of the Good Friday agreement and that it will continue to work very closely with the British government to support the northern parties to achieve this outcome,” said a government spokesperson.
The Prime Minister’s trip to Ireland will draw attention to the progress regarding negotiations over the Northern Irish border after Brexit.
The UK government have said that progress with the Irish government has been made. They have said that a return to a hard border between the two countries is unacceptable.
“Any border and customs infrastructure is a viable threat to the peace process which is only 20 years old on this island. The Irish government is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday agreement … as is the British government, so we do have a responsibility to make sure that case is known,” said Neal Richmond, an Irish senator.
Both security experts and Irish politicians alike have issued warnings over border infrastructure, saying it will risk the peace process and will be a target for terrorism.
“Our assessment is that they would be a target because it would be representative of the state and in their minds fair game for attack. I would assume that that assessment is shared by senior politicians and officials who are negotiating Brexit,” said the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“While I am chief constable I do not want to enter the political debate over Brexit but I still think it’s fair to comment on some of its implications and scenarios. And a hard border from a policing perspective would not be a good outcome because it would a create a focus and a target.”