NI Border fears as Brexit begins

We've been hearing "Brexit means Brexit" for a long time now, but we are finally about to find out what it actually means when Article 50 is triggered today.

On Tuesday night Theresa May signed the letter to European Council President and the two-year process of leaving the EU will begin when Donald Tusk receives it at lunchtime.

We are now entering the great unknown, but at the same time things should start to get a bit clearer as the negotiations officially start.

And despite being a very small percentage of the overall UK population, Northern Ireland will likely provide a headache for Westminster over the next two years.

The biggest question surrounds the border. The British government have said on numerous occasions there will be no return to the borders of the past, but what we haven't heard is what exactly that means. Obviously there will be no need for security towers like there were during the troubles, but there could be the need for some sort of custom checks.

Northern Ireland is also unique among the UK regions. The Brexit Secretary has revealed that if people vote for a united Ireland sometime in the future then we won't have to join a queue for EU membership as we would be joining an existing member state.

Of course Northern Ireland is also unique in that it is currently without a functioning Executive, therefore it will be rudderless and without represenatation as the Brexit negotiations begin.

There are genuine fears the impact this could have on the lives of those living in this North West border area which straddles Londonderry and Donegal.

Driving from the city of Derry in Northern Ireland, towards the peninsula town of Buncrana in the Irish Republic, the only physical sign that you are travelling from one country into another is the changing of the speed signals from miles to kilometres.

The thousands of journeys that are made across this small part of the Irish border every day demonstrates just how intertwined people's lives here have become.

Mothers take their children to and from school, employees travel to work, friends meet for lunch, couples do their weekly shopping and patients attend medical appointments.

I live just a few miles away in Derry and cross the border here for my shopping in Buncrana as it is cheaper,'' says Charles Murray, a Remain voter.

This is a fluid border and I am very concerned about the damage Brexit will do to this area.

Any sort of border will change the trade, it will damage it. I voted to remain because I believe the freedom of movement is very important,'' he adds.

The Irish border runs for 500km, from Lough Foyle in the north-west to Newry in the south-east.

Derry is a cross-border city, which helps to explain why its vote for Remain in the EU referendum, at 78.3 per cent, was the fourth-highest in the UK.

It is one of the few cities to currently straddle an international border. Soon it will be straddling an EU/non-EU border.

It is a very busy crossing. You have people bringing kids to school, shopping, workers going both ways. There are a lot of things we do as a matter of course on the border,'' says Toni Forrester, chief executive of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce in Co Donegal.

We need to know what the British government are planning.

There's no Northern Irish government at the moment, no voice for the North West,'' adds Ms Forrester, who lives in Derry and travels across the border to work every day.

The British government is focused on mainland Britain. I don't think they are seeing the issues here,'' she says.

Sinead McLaughlin, chief executive of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, warns any disruption to cross border trade will have a significant impact on the region

We have got a really integrated cross border market, particularly in agri food and manufacture.

It's difficult to see how any type of border would help support businesses on both sides.

I think there are going to be a number of stumbling blocks and Ireland is a particularly difficult one in this negotiation,'' she says.

Ms McLaughlin adds she is very disappointed that Northern Ireland currently has no government voice and strong mandate of purpose around what this region is asking for from the UK government''.

Leave voter Robert Moore, a farmer whose beef and tillage farm just outside Derry is a stone's throw from the border with Co Donegal, says he is not overly concerned about the impact of Brexit on cross border trade.

The reason I voted to leave was because the common agricultural policy was no longer delivering for farming. It is awful and it is pushing our product prices down and input costs up.

Average incomes in the last year were about £9,000 which is pathetic,'' he says.

I am not overly concerned about cross border trade at this time.

If you look at the thing logically you end up coming to the inevitable conclusion there is going to have to be a deal of some description because it is in everyone's best interest to do a deal,'' he adds.