Northern Ireland Brexit impact 'mapping exercise' finally released

A previously confidential government study detailing 142 areas of life in Northern Ireland that will be impacted by Brexit has been published, revealing risks to everything from cooperation on congenital heart disease and cross-border child protection to rules preventing the looting of national treasures.

The study was published by the Brexit select committee after it was obtained by a member of the public via a freedom of information request.

The so-called “mapping exercise” was conducted in autumn 2017 but never shared with the select committee despite repeated requests from the chairman, the Labour MP Hilary Benn.

It shows that the consequences of Brexit are not exclusively related to trade and customs checks, the focus of arguments presented by hard Brexiters that ultimately led to the departure of Theresa May as prime minister.

Among the areas identified are an all-Ireland congenital heart disease network “to ensure that vulnerable children receive treatment on the island of Ireland”.

“The network has a single surgical centre in Dublin and a specialist children’s cardiology centre in Belfast, supported by cardiology expertise in local hospitals and an all-island academic programme which is under development,” the 35-page document says.

Other areas of cooperation across the island of Ireland that will be affected by Brexit include major emergencies and A&E services, cancer research and health promotion. Also underpinned by the EU are everyday services such as the operation of cross-border taxis and mobile phone roaming services.

Repatriation of waste, the prevention of the spread of animal diseases such as BSE and TB, flood risk management, wildfire initiatives and horse racing are also listed in the study.

The Brexit select committee said the list showed the extent to which cooperation on the island of Ireland was underpinned by the Good Friday agreement and “the extent to which each is underpinned by existing EU legal and policy frameworks”.

Among the most serious issues impacted by Brexit is cross-border policing. It is known that both the Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are concerned about the future of data sharing and potential difficulties in apprehending criminals who flee across the border in the absence of the European arrest warrant system.

But the mapping exercise also lists “liaison, training, disaster planning, joint investigations and communications”. It also notes there is a cross-border agency on smuggling and tax evasion, involving the Irish Revenue Commissioners and HMRC.

Nineteen areas are listed as “avoiding a hard border” and include everything from the central issues of customs and physical checks on live animals crossing the border to rules on movement of national treasures.

The latter is governed by EU rules that “stop national treasures from leaving the country and prevent illicit trafficking and looting”.

Movement of medicine across the island is also an issue as “Northern Ireland and Ireland is currently treated as a single entity by pharma and medical device companies”, and will be subject to checks unless EU regulations apply.

David Lidington, the de facto deputy prime minister, told Benn that the documents “were produced as part of a scoping exercise” and were intended to form the basis of discussion and not to be published separately.

The government has never published its full Brexit impact statement for Northern Ireland.

The mapping exercise does not detail the contingencies for police or for the supply of energy, for example. At one point the government considered putting a flotilla of barges in the Irish Sea to deliver energy to Northern Ireland if it were to become cut off from the all-island energy grid.