‘We’re totally in the dark’ – Belfast locals on Brexit, Theresa May and the Irish backstop

In a speech, the PM said there would be no hard border, adding: ‘I will not let that happen’

Theresa May has travelled to Northern Ireland to restate her “unshakeable commitment” to avoiding a hard border, in a speech aimed at those at the very heart of the Brexit debate.

But on the streets of Belfast, many people were far from reassured.

“It’s going to start a lot of things happening again. There’s a lot of people who are worried,” said Elizabeth McKenzie, a call centre worker, who has lived in Belfast since she was two years old.

“I don’t know about the rest of Northern Ireland but for Belfast, we have come on in leaps and bounds economically. Brexit is going to drag it all back down.

“That means people will have to look for who to blame and that’s when the problems start.”

Jennifer Allen, from Greater Belfast, said the laboratory where she works was stockpiling equipment in case of a no-deal Brexit and warned that they are “totally in the dark” about what is to come.

She said: “I’m old enough to remember the Troubles and to have been been affected personally by it.

“There is no technology to use at the border. She [Ms May] says, ‘We are looking at this now’, but why weren’t you looking at it two years ago?”

Ms Allen went on: “I think she is counting down the clock, so that everyone will panic and vote for her deal.”

Waiting for a bus in the early evening drizzle, Judith Black, from East Belfast, admitted she was worried about what Brexit could mean for Northern Ireland.

“I think it’s going to have a massive impact,” she said. “I don’t know enough about what she’s [Ms May] doing about it.”

Thomas McKinless, a credit control worker from East Belfast, said he thought the prime minister was in a tricky position but her visit would do little to reassure people.

“I don’t think she’s taking the border issue as seriously as she should,” he added.

However Richard, from Bangor, dismissed the reports about the risks of a hard border as “the literal definition of project fear”.

He said: “I think the hard border is very much a political device.

“I think there is no need for it, there is no provision in the Good Friday Agreement for it – quite the opposite, of course.

“If there was a little bit less intransigence from Brussels I think there would be no need for it and the further we get towards Brexit day, I think we are starting to see that now.”

Ms May’s DUP allies are “doing the best job they can” to represent their communities, he said, even if not everyone agrees with their views.