THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said yesterday that Theresa May had failed to allay workers’ fears over the future of free movement in the wake of Brexit.

The British Prime Minister had said earlier that she agreed with her Irish counterpart Enda Kenny on the need for “the best possible arrangement that does not lead to a border of the past for Northern Ireland.”

Westminster and Dublin have bilateral free-movement agreements dating back to Irish independence in the 1920s. Some 25,000 workers commute across the border with Northern Ireland every day.

But the ICTU executive council, meeting yesterday, said Ms May’s assertion “had provided no certainty for both workers in the republic of Ireland whose companies trade with the UK and workers in Northern Ireland.”

General secretary Patricia King said: “While the UK Prime Minister states that she agrees with the Taoiseach that the common travel area should remain, this will be an EU border and not just an Irish one.

“Therefore this will require the agreement of the other 26 member states.”