Brexit must not result in return of a hard border: Pelosi

DUBLIN: US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that Brexit must not result in the return of a hard border.

The senior Democrat made the remarks in a speech to members of the Irish parliament on Wednesday afternoon as part of the Dail’s centenary commemorations.TDs, senators and former politicians — as well as U2 singer Bono — were in attendance to hear Pelosi’s address. Pelosi said that Brexit must not undermine or challenge the Good Friday Agreement or allow the return of a hard border.

She added that politicians in the US stand with Ireland as it faces challenges posed by Brexit. “We must ensure nothing happens in the Brexit discussion that threatens the Good Friday accord,” she said.

“If the Brexit deal undermines the accord there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement.” Pelosi is part of a delegation of high-ranking US politicians on a two-day fact-finding mission to the country.

The congressional group includes several members of the Friends of Ireland caucus, including congressman Richie Neal. On Tuesday, Pelosi met Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the country’s foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney on the first day of her visit.

Speaking in Dublin, Pelosi warned the UK not to undermine the Good Friday Agreement when it leaves the EU. She said the UK had made the decision to leave the bloc and it should not think “for one minute that there’s any comfort for them in the fact that if they leave the EU that they would quickly have a US-UK trade agreement”.“That’s just not on the cards, if there’s any harm done to the Good Friday accords,” she said. “Don’t even think about that.”

Pelosi is the third most powerful politician in the US. The US politicians will also meet President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain and attend a dinner, hosted by Varadkar, at Dublin Castle, on the final day of their trip to the Republic. The delegation will visit Northern Ireland on Thursday (today).