UK rules out hard border with Ireland post-Brexit

The UK government today effectively ruled out a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Ireland after Brexit.
A paper detailing the government's plan calls for a so- called "unprecedented solution" and stresses there should be no physical infrastructure, such as customs posts, at the border, which has about 200 crossing points.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that will share a land border with a European Union (EU) state post- Brexit.
"No one voted to end the special ties between the UK and Ireland or to undermine the unique arrangements between Ireland and Northern Ireland which have underpinned the peace process and have been in place well before our membership of the EU," said British Prime Minister Theresa May.

The UK government repeated its desire to maintain the Common Travel Area and the rights of UK and Irish citizens, and to uphold the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, of which the UK is a co-guarantor.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has spoken of a limited transition period to implement any new customs arrangements, including considerations relating to the "unique circumstances" of Northern Ireland and the Ireland.
The position paper released this week forms part of the British government's negotiations with the European Union, ahead of the UK leaving the EU in March 2019.
Both the UK and Irish governments have repeatedly stated their opposition to a hard border, but the situation is complicated as the UK intends to leave the EU's customs union.