Gerry Adams arrested

[derspiess]

I may have started to take the piss at a certain point in this thread.

[Valmy]

From my reading of the article, Adams presented himself at the police station in Antrim after the warrant for his arrest went out. No foolish loitering in the wrong side of the border, no cross border raids; he was wanted and he gave himself up.

Yes.  I just presumed the arrest was issued and he turned himself in because he was a NI citizen.  But I guess when you have two countries that small  side by side on an Island the normally very large issue of international borders is not as big of a thing.

[Jacob]

From my reading of the article, Adams presented himself at the police station in Antrim after the warrant for his arrest went out. No foolish loitering in the wrong side of the border, no cross border raids; he was wanted and he gave himself up.

Yes.  I just presumed the arrest was issued and he turned himself in because he was a NI citizen.  But I guess when you have two countries that small  side by side on an Island the normally very large issue of international borders is not as big of a thing.

Well, both of them are in the EU so border crossings aren't that big a deal.

[Barrister]

From my reading of the article, Adams presented himself at the police station in Antrim after the warrant for his arrest went out. No foolish loitering in the wrong side of the border, no cross border raids; he was wanted and he gave himself up.

Yes.  I just presumed the arrest was issued and he turned himself in because he was a NI citizen.  But I guess when you have two countries that small  side by side on an Island the normally very large issue of international borders is not as big of a thing.

Probably more a matter than extradition within the EU is not that difficult to obtain.

[Valmy]

It's the honourable thing to do.

If every accused did this you would be overloaded with work.  Is it really honorable to stress the poor Crown Prosecutors so?

[Valmy]

Well, both of them are in the EU so border crossings aren't that big a deal.

That would normally be so but I thought the British and Irish were weird about that whole Schengen thing.

[Barrister]

It's the honourable thing to do.

If every accused did this you would be overloaded with work.  Is it really honorable to stress the poor Crown Prosecutors so?

What's stressful is getting a file with a 40 year old offence date, then then waits another 10 years before it comes to court due to an accused being on the lam.

[Sheilbh]

That would normally be so but I thought the British and Irish were weird about that whole Schengen thing.

There used to be military checkpoints on the border due to paramilitaries - when Schengen was created and even when it became part of the EU framework.

Now there's not even a sign at most crossings to say when you're leaving one country and entering the other. The UK is far more dubious about Schengen than Ireland, but I think the British position makes sense. As it is both countries have an opt-out.

[Agelastus]

Well, both of them are in the EU so border crossings aren't that big a deal.

That would normally be so but I thought the British and Irish were weird about that whole Schengen thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area

[Valmy]

Ah ok I did not know about that.  Damn the EU is complicated.

[mongers]

You can travel without a passport, between and in the UK and Ireland if you're an Irish or UK citizen respectively.   

[Admiral Yi]

You can travel without a passport, between and in the UK and Ireland if you're an Irish or UK citizen respectively.   

How do they know? 

[mongers]

You can travel without a passport, between and in the UK and Ireland if you're an Irish or UK citizen respectively.   

How do they know? 

Who is 'they'?

[alfred russel]

You can travel without a passport, between and in the UK and Ireland if you're an Irish or UK citizen respectively.   

How do they know? 

The two have a common border agreement. You can't get onto the islands as a non citizen without a passport.

I understand that causes some problems for longer term visitors. The time they spend in Ireland and the UK is cumulative because they don't get passport stamps when traveling between the two.

Also it is why Ireland and the UK aren't in Schengen. The UK is more skeptic of Schengen, saying why should we do away with our own migration checks when we are an island? Ireland is saying that they support Schengen, but that they need to stay in alliance with the UK on migration controls or else border checks will be put in place on their island.

[Scipio]

Not Gerry Adams! He seemed so normal to me. Just a quiet lad who loved his mom and blowing up Protestants.