Cross Border Checks

mullyfive0

Why is it only the buses are subject to random stops by the guards, never the trains ?

Run_to_da_hills

Unless the Gardai are looking for fireworks coming up to halloween I couldn't see much point.

Mits

As far as I know the Guards can stop anyone or car,train,bus etc.

It is more hassle to search a train.

Ham'nd'egger

mullyfive0 wrote: »

Why is it only the buses are subject to random stops by the guards, never the trains ?

The trains are checked from time to time but given that there are more bus options to cross the border and the ease to board and alight them then it follows that they will be checked more often.

monkeypants

mullyfive0 wrote: »

Why is it only the buses are subject to random stops by the guards, never the trains ?

Takes quite a distance to stop a train safely. All the Gardai need to do is wait at a station. It will take more Garda manpower due to the length of the train and the number of doors to cover.

bmaxi

I was on the bus from Belfast last week and the Gardaí stopped it near Drogheda. First Garda gets on and says "Any foreign nationals, passports please". Given that Poles, Germans, Latvians etc look quite similar to us how could he know who was or wasn't a foreign national? What if they didn't speak English, what would the charge be for not producing when asked? Seemed a bit ham-fisted to me.

Our man in Havana

I have experienced the Gardaí boarding the cross border trains in Dundalk many times and demanding passports from any passengers that did not look either Irish or British.

Vic_08

bmaxi wrote: »

I was on the bus from Belfast last week and the Gardaí stopped it near Drogheda. First Garda gets on and says "Any foreign nationals, passports please". Given that Poles, Germans, Latvians etc look quite similar to us how could he know who was or wasn't a foreign national? What if they didn't speak English, what would the charge be for not producing when asked? Seemed a bit ham-fisted to me.

They aren't interested in Poles, Germans or Latvians.

If they believe a person is entering the country illegally it is up to the person to prove their identity. If they cannot provide acceptable ID and correct visas for their origin they remove them from the bus then and there.

Victor

monkeypants wrote: »

Takes quite a distance to stop a train safely. All the Gardai need to do is wait at a station. It will take more Garda manpower due to the length of the train and the number of doors to cover.

There are lots of options available.

1. Two gardaí get on and search a single carriage.
2. A single garda (with or without a member of the UK Border Agency or the PSNI) gets on at Dundalk or Newry and inspects people as far as the next station.
3. 8-10 (number of carriages +1) gardaí board the train and inspect everyone in a few minutes.

bmaxi

Vic_08 wrote: »

They aren't interested in Poles, Germans or Latvians.

If they believe a person is entering the country illegally it is up to the person to prove their identity. If they cannot provide acceptable ID and correct visas for their origin they remove them from the bus then and there.

OK. Well let's make that Russians, Icelanders, French Canadians. The point I was making was the check was cursory, those who chose to provide a passport, did have them examined, but nobody who didn't was questioned. It just seems to me, if they are going to bother to do this they should be a bit more thorough.
I recently crossed the border from Portugal into Spain and the police got on and checked everybody's passport, this, strangely, happened on the Portuguese side maybe they're trying to keep tourists in.

Empire o de Sun

I've driven across many borders on mainland europe and have never had anything checked ever. Though I did see some french police on the motorway inside Germany at the border once. They were just standing there, didn't see anyone get stopped.

Also, i go up north and never have id with me. The best thing would probably be my laser card. This smells like Arizona to me. "can't prove who you are, huh."

Polar101

bmaxi wrote: »

First Garda gets on and says "Any foreign nationals, passports please".

As in, "I don't want to check everyone's passports, any illegal immigrants on this bus?"

What are the chances anyone will speak up? I wonder how many people the Gardai catch on these inspections.

wellbutty

bmaxi wrote: »

I recently crossed the border from Portugal into Spain and the police got on and checked everybody's passport, this, strangely, happened on the Portuguese side maybe they're trying to keep tourists in.

I crossed France to Spain 2 weeks ago and the French boarded the train just before the border and checked all the passports and then 10 minutes later, the Spanish did the same....only they went one better and stopped the train on a bridge to do the check!