No UK-Irish ‘hard border’, leaders pledge

By Michael Sercan Daventry

LONDON (AA) - There will be no “hard border” between the U.K. and Ireland following the U.K.’s decision to leave the EU, local media reported Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Irish counterpart Enda Kenny agreed that checkpoints would not return to the only land frontier between Ireland and the U.K.

“A hard border in normal circumstances means customs posts and customs checks in various places,” Kenny said at a news conference in London, according to the Irish Times.

“There will be no return to the hard border between the republic and Northern Ireland of the past… So I do not favor, I do not agree, to a hard border with a whole range of customs posts and neither does the prime minister.”

The leaders said they had committed to regular meetings to ensure Britain’s future exit from the EU does not damage trade ties or peace in Northern Ireland, which was the scene of a 30-year conflict.

May said there was a “strong will on both sides” to preserve the open border. “It is in all our interests to work together to safeguard our national security and the outcome of the referendum will not undermine it,” she said.