Question of Green Cards for Northern Ireland motorists still up in the air

Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has stressed the need for a prompt decision on waiving the green card requirement for Northern motorists seeking to drive in the South of Ireland.

His call comes as a response to an answer to a Parliamentary Question he tabled to the Minister for Transport. Deputy Tóibín stated: “Brexit is done, and the transition period over, it is now left to us to try clean up the mess left behind and build the bridges burned by this Tory-led fiasco. One of the principal issues in this regard, and one that requires immediate attention, is whether motorists from the North of Ireland now require a green card to drive in the 26 counties. I welcome the fact that motorists from the South of Ireland will not require a green card visa to drive in the North, however we cannot have a situation where there are disparate legal requirements across the 32 counties depending on what part of the country you live in. There should be no visa requirement for any of the people of Ireland to travel across their own country.”

“The decision as to whether to waive the Green Card requirement for motorists from the North of Ireland driving in the South, is one within the remit EU Commission. I urge the Commission to act swiftly to rectify the disparate standard on the island of Ireland and to waive Green Card requirements for Northern motorists. Thousands of businesses and households are reliant on cross-border commerce on both sides of the border, and are already struggling with the additional red tape imposed by Brexit, waiving the Green Card requirement would go along way to supporting border communities and businesses. Failure to do so reinforces partition, and gifts hard Brexiteers the hard border they wanted by construction.” 

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