The Economy Minister Conor Murphy has said he is hopeful the new Labour government will allow for a pause on the expansion of the controversial Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme in order to protect the north’s tourism industry.
From January 8 2025, all non-European visitors crossing the border from the Republic, including US tourists and their children, will each be required to pay £10 and complete an online pre-authorisation application.
The ETA scheme is set to expand further on April 2 2025 to include non-resident European nationals entering the UK, including those crossing the border into Northern Ireland.
With around 70% of international visitors arriving into the north via the Republic, representatives of the tourism industry fear the ETA scheme will put barriers in place for the flow of overseas visitors into Northern Ireland.
Conor Murphy said that following a meeting last month in London with UK migration minister Seema Malhotra, his department is in the process of providing evidence to the Home Office on the impact the scheme will have on tourism on the island.
“We are hopeful,” said the Sinn Féin minister. “We had raised this issue with the last administration, and not had that much joy with them.
“We’re having a conversation now at least. We are presenting evidence and we are trying to make sure that case is heard and hopefully we will get some action in relation to it.”
Mr Murphy said there had been little appetite from the previous Conservative government to discuss mitigation around immigration and visitation controls in the lead up to the recent general election.
“It’s a different conversation than we were having with the last administration.
“They have listened to what we presented to them, they have asked for further evidence, that wasn’t the case with the previous administration.
“We are pressing for a continuation in a pause and a revisit of this, because we think it is a bad idea.
“It’s not actually going to fix the immigration challenges that Britain as a state faces.
“All it is going to do is create additional barriers to tourism here.
“This is going to impact on people who come here, who holiday and spend money and contribute to our economy.
“I think the immigration issues will be resolved elsewhere, but not through this mechanism.”
Asked whether a delay is being considered, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We are committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders to help ensure the ETA requirement is communicated effectively and to mitigate against it being seen as a barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.”
Meanwhile, speaking as the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) came into effect in Northern Ireland on Friday, Mr Murphy said the new rules were a consequence of Brexit.
The GPSR introduce requirements for businesses in Britain who wish to sell products in the EU.
The Windsor Framework means those rules extend to GB firms sending goods to Northern Ireland.
The new product safety rules, which include a requirement for businesses to have a compliance agent in the EU, or Northern Ireland, has already prompted some firms to halt sales to the north.
The economy minister said the Windsor Framework was the result of parties lobbying to mitigate against the worst elements of Brexit.
“We have dual market access, but there is interruption to trading arrangements, and that’s always bad news for people who are trading, whether micro-businesses or large businesses.
“I fully get that people are struggling and there are new arrangements and they are trying to come to terms with them,” he said.
“That is easier if you’re a large business and you have a whole division to look at it.
“But if you’re a micro-business and you’re doing everything on your own, or one or two people, or a family, that’s a much bigger challenge.
“We will of course offer support to people. We want to see people take advantage of the arrangements we have, we want to give them support too.”
The economy minister said the change in tone in London in respect of the EU, since Labour came into office, did offer some hope of further conciliation.
“By all accounts we hear that there are better relationships between London and Brussels, and that is necessary for us, who have been impacted by a bad Brexit idea.”
