The Irish border controls are primitive

bear1

Seems like the British government isn't happy with our border controls with the North

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/government-rejects-border-criticism-173359792.html#pTFsKgd

Yes it's Yahoo so take it with a pinch of salt but I think the UK should sort their own border controls out first before criticizing others.
Any takes on this?
I'd like to think that scrapping the CTA would be of any benefit but i think it just isn't possible.

Archeron

All it takes is a kitkat, next thing you know there are panda bears driving cadillacs all over the place.

Jimoslimos

Primitive..heh! Never tried queueing at passport control in Gatwick then.

I think we should sign up to the Schengen Agreement to piss them off further.

wazky

The UK has bigger issues then the border with Ireland, since we aren't all mad bombers anymore.

The Diabolical Monocle

Maybe an all island border service could help, headquartered in Dublin of course.

ColeTrain

The British can politely **** off

Donkey Oaty

bear1 wrote: »

Seems like the British government isn't happy with our border controls with the North.

Just to be clear - it isn't an undiplomatic policy statement by HM Government, but just the view of an unnamed civil servant:

It cited a Whitehall source as describing its [Ireland's] current measures as "primitive".

kneemos

Do they man every back road and bohreen?Could you not simply walk through the fields to enter the north?

Nodin

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Just to be clear - it isn't an undiplomatic policy statement by HM Government, but just the view of an unnamed civil servant:

...from an article in the Torygraph.

Karl Stein

It would be much more effective to have border controls at the sea/air ports between the two islands than trying to secure a porous land border.

They couldn't stop weapons and explosives crossing the border during the troubles so expecting the Irish state to secure it is quite stupid. How long before the British make definite plans to support unification?

lostdisk

Yahoo is right. Not primative, but crap.

Dravokivich

Huh, wasn't there a bit of a slight problem the last time there was border control posted along the north no?

Hootanany

How much Lunch allowance do are finest get?

bear1

ColeTrain wrote: »

The British can politely **** off

This made my day I thank you Sir
I find it laughable, I'm not sure how long our border is (500km?) but I'd say let's just join Schengen for the craic :pac:

MadsL

Ah, primitive?

Much like the being waved through on the left if you have a boarding pass labelled Dublin on arrival at Stansted.

Everyone goes through immigration at Dublin, not the case at Stansted.

getzls

ColeTrain wrote: »

The British can politely **** off

Yes the IRA were very pleased the Irish Government had that attitude up until the early 80's.

ColeTrain

getzls wrote: »

Yes the IRA were very pleased the Irish Government had that attitude up until the early 80's.

That was then, this is now.

Hootanany

It's a cash cow for the Gards if they are passionate should be done on normal time simples this stuff has to. Be stamped out

Karl Stein

getzls wrote: »

Yes the IRA were very pleased the Irish Government had that attitude up until the early 80's.

Sssshh..

The British realise that their presence on a part of the body of this island is nothing but a pain in the hole for them.

How does that make you feel?

Cee-Jay-Cee

The UK have a bit of a neck criticising border controls from NI into Ireland because it's implying that their own border controls have failed and they're expecting Ireland's to catch what they missed.

And on the other side of the coin, the irish governments Department of Justice spokeswoman insisting that the country's border controls are "effective and robust" is complete horse**** as border controls in this country are non existent. Absolutely anyone can cross the border at any time and any place without notice or question as to their identity.

It's hard to decide which of the two countries statements are the biggest crock of ****!

stefan idiot jones

Up until a year ago I used to travel back and for to Wales by ferry via Rosslare/Pembroke a few times a year visiting relatives and I can tell you that in about twenty trips entering Rosslare as a foot passenger I was asked to see my passport only once.
As you alight the ferry on the bus a customs official comes on board and asks you where you are from. That's it.
A quarter of the time they didn't even bother to stop the bus, they just waved it on through.
This was with Irish Ferries and even when I bought tickets both ends I was never asked for my passport or my daughter who was with me a lot of the time.
Due to bad weather once I had to use Stena and then I had to provide my passport.

Very slack.

road_high

Carlos Roca wrote: »

Sssshh..

The British realise that their presence on a part of the body of this island is nothing but a pain in the hole for them.

How does that make you feel?

An extremely expensive one at that too...what's the subsidy from the mother-ship these days, 8 or 9 billion gbp or something?
I dunno how aware English taxpayers are of the fact they are forking out so much to keep it all going up there but I'd imagine it must raise a lot of questions. 60 or 70% of the workforce are public sector. Be cheaper for the Brits to pay them all the dole...The Republic may have had its recent economic troubles but NI would be an absolute basketcase if its suckling
teat was ever cut off.
Any ordinary English people I have ever met have no affinity for NI and regard it as still "Ireland" pretty much.

RahenyD5

Typical of Whitehall/British government.

I don't blame the average Brit. I have to say Whitehall is disgusting, look how they're treating the North and we did right by breaking away from them.

A 32 county Ireland will put a stop to this fecked up charade of border control as we would have full control of borders for the whole island then these jumped up Whitehall bollix can give out all they like, they would be finally kicked out of Ireland for good. Hope this will happen one day.

Jimoslimos

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

Up until a year ago I used to travel back and for to Wales by ferry via Rosslare/Pembroke a few times a year visiting relatives and I can tell you that in about twenty trips entering Rosslare as a foot passenger I was asked to see my passport only once.
As you alight the ferry on the bus a customs official comes on board and asks you where you are from. That's it.
A quarter of the time they didn't even bother to stop the bus, they just waved it on through.
This was with Irish Ferries and even when I bought tickets both ends I was never asked for my passport or my daughter who was with me a lot of the time.
Due to bad weather once I had to use Stena and then I had to provide my passport.

Very slack.

You do understand the purpose of a Common Travel Area don't you?

GAAman

Just to comment on the opposite side of this, I have been living in Derry for over 8 years now and make the trip to Dublin via bus an average of 2-3 times a month so do the math on how many times that is in total.

Most times it is the direct bus route and occasionally the bus route via Belfast, not only can I remember how many immigration stops there were I can count them on one hand.....even if I lost two digits.....yep three in total!

stefan idiot jones

Jimoslimos wrote: »

You do understand the purpose of a Common Travel Area don't you?

So, in theory I could have been a stowaway on a boat from Congo riddled with tuberculosis and Aids, got smuggled ashore in West Wales then bought a ferry ticket to another country with a different currency and when I enter that country absolutely no one checks me for identification?

Do you think that within a 'Common Trave Area' there should be no checks for photographic identification at all?

Stinicker

I think it is fairly stupid that a non EU national needs a UK visa to take a day trip from the ROI to NI, illegally they can sneek up over the border as most do and go unnoticed but they are breaking the law and could face deportation from the UK, imprisonment etc. What really is needed is for Passport checks between NI and the UK so that the people of Ireland and our visitors can roam freely through the 32 counties on either a UK Visa or a ROI Visa.

Jimoslimos

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

So, in theory I could have been a stowaway on a boat from Congo riddled with tuberculosis and Aids, got smuggled ashore in West Wales then bought a ferry ticket to another country with a different currency and when I enter that country absolutely no one checks me for identification?

Do you think that within a 'Common Trave Area' there should be no checks for photographic identification at all?

What has AIDS got to do with anything? Are you suggesting it doesn't exist here or that Africans are to blame?

Defeats the purpose of a common travel agreement if everybody gets ID checked, ideally the external border controls (Non-UK and Ireland) should be more heavily guarded, which in your little anecdote would lay the blame on UK Coast Guard. Realistically very few enter that way, but rather more conventional routes.

stefan idiot jones

Jimoslimos wrote: »

What has AIDS got to do with anything? Are you suggesting it doesn't exist here or that Africans are to blame?

Defeats the purpose of a common travel agreement if everybody gets I'D checked, ideally the external border controls (Non-UK and Ireland) should be more heavily guarded, which in your little anecdote would lay the blame on UK Coast Guard. Realistically very few enter that way, but rather more conventional routes.

I thought it was quite obvious what point I was making.

And if you read my post you would have understood that I used the example of 'I' was a stowaway.

The Republic needs to look after its own border policy rather than relying on the U.K.

I would be more concerned who is entering my country rather than leaving it. A lot of European countries have a history of 'assisting' people through their own countries towards others.

IrishEyes19

getzls wrote: »

Yes the IRA were very pleased the Irish Government had that attitude up until the early 80's.

Never fails to amaze me how if we support anything that is Irish and show any pride in ourselves, its portrayed under the "prov Ira light"

Nothing wrong with supporting independence or being proud of the fact, its very different from supporting the prov IRA who were thugs.

We must be the only nation who openly act ashamed or get blasted for showing any pride in ourselves. riddiculous.

ted1

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

Up until a year ago I used to travel back and for to Wales by ferry via Rosslare/Pembroke a few times a year visiting relatives and I can tell you that in about twenty trips entering Rosslare as a foot passenger I was asked to see my passport only once.
As you alight the ferry on the bus a customs official comes on board and asks you where you are from. That's it.
A quarter of the time they didn't even bother to stop the bus, they just waved it on through.
This was with Irish Ferries and even when I bought tickets both ends I was never asked for my passport or my daughter who was with me a lot of the time.
Due to bad weather once I had to use Stena and then I had to provide my passport.

Very slack.

Did you use the dildo trick?

Cee-Jay-Cee

RahenyD5 wrote: »

Typical of Whitehall/British government.

I don't blame the average Brit. I have to say Whitehall is disgusting, look how they're treating the North and we did right by breaking away from them.

A 32 county Ireland will put a stop to this fecked up charade of border control as we would have full control of borders for the whole island then these jumped up Whitehall bollix can give out all they like, they would be finally kicked out of Ireland for good. Hope this will happen one day.

The problem with that Idea is that there are very very few, north or South who want a united ireland. The nationalists in the north think they do but if it was to be implemented and they were told how it would effect them, how they would lose their health care, their education and pay into our tax system, car tax & insurance, VRT, etc etc you can be guaranteed none of them would sign up to it. And no right thinking person from the south wants in as it would cripple our already crippled country even further (if that's even possible)

The dissident scumbags certainly don't want a united Ireland as they'd have nothing left to use as a cover for their criminality. The stupid little ***** who think they're in the IRA in the republic (but are so dense they can barely spell IRA) are probably the only ones who would proclaim they want a United Ireland but in reality they're nobodies and no one gives a flying fcuk what they think anyway.

anncoates

The British themselves failed miserably to secure it for years.

drdeadlift

I dont think the border security is that high on the list for the government.

R P McMurphy

CJC999 wrote: »

The problem with that Idea is that there are very very few, north or South who want a united ireland. The nationalists in the north think they do but if it was to be implemented and they were told how it would effect them, how they would lose their health care, their education and pay into our tax system, car tax & insurance, VRT, etc etc you can be guaranteed none of them would sign up to it. And no right thinking person from the south wants in as it would cripple our already crippled country even further (if that's even possible)

The dissident scumbags certainly don't want a united Ireland as they'd have nothing left to use as a cover for their criminality. The stupid little ***** who think they're in the IRA in the republic (but are so dense they can barely spell IRA) are probably the only ones who would proclaim they want a United Ireland but in reality they're nobodies and no one gives a flying fcuk what they think anyway.

do you think that the standard of living is higher in the North?

GarIT

Stinicker wrote: »

I think it is fairly stupid that a non EU national needs a UK visa to take a day trip from the ROI to NI, illegally they can sneek up over the border as most do and go unnoticed but they are breaking the law and could face deportation from the UK, imprisonment etc. What really is needed is for Passport checks between NI and the UK so that the people of Ireland and our visitors can roam freely through the 32 counties on either a UK Visa or a ROI Visa.

That definitely shouldn't happen people with a UK visa should not be allowed into the republic.

awec

The past few times I have been travelling up and down I have seen Guards stop buses just on the ROI side of the border - presumably looking for people who shouldn't be crossing.

It's just random spotchecks, not much else that can be done. If you're crossing the border without the proper visa then you're taking a risk - if you hurt yourself or take sick or whatever then you're screwed.

arybvtcw0eolkf

bear1 wrote: »

Seems like the British government isn't happy with our border controls with the North

Its their border, let them go f*ck themselves.

Dyr

Ansley Victorious Apathetic wrote: »

Its their border, let them go f*ck themselves.

Pretty much this

Denis2

An Englishman speaks:
Christmas greetings to my dear friends in Ireland.
The UK Border Agency stinks. Anyone who has suffered the hell of Stansted/Gatwick/ Heathrow will know just how much they stink. They cannot even guesstimate how many people are in Britain illegally. So when it comes to border "problems" in Ireland that old expression about glasshouses and stones come to mind.