BREXIT could flare up tensions between Britain and Ireland over the ownership of an isolated islet in the north Atlantic, unearthed reports suggest.
The latest round of Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU finished a day early this week, with “significant differences” still remaining between the two sides. A statement from the UK’s chief negotiator David Frost confirmed he is still committed to coming to a principle agreement for a future trade deal this month. This round of talks was the first to be held face-to-face since March, which, according to Mr Frost, injected “extra depth and flexibility to our discussions”.
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However, negotiations are still at a standstill in several key areas.
Sticking points between the two sides include the so-called “level-playing field” – to ensure businesses on one side don’t have an unfair advantage over the other – fishing rules and the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
As tensions are set to rise in the incoming weeks, unearthed reports shed light on what could be another tortuous Brexit battle.
The Irish border is one prominent area but another is Rockall – a rock with a colourful history of claim and counterclaim involving the UK.
Rockall is situated in a remote part of the North Atlantic and is about 160 nautical miles west of the Scottish islands of St. Kilda and 230 nautical miles to the north-west of Donegal.
The uninhabited rock is 25 metres wide and 17 metres high and is actually the remnants of an extinct volcano.
The tiny islet has been the source of an ownership dispute involving the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Iceland.
The dispute has not been so much about the ownership of the rock but the potential for oil and gas reserves in the surrounding seabeds and the lucrative fishing grounds.
Rockall fishing is reportedly a multi-million-pound industry with a large supply of haddock, monkfish, and squid.
According to a recent report by IrishCentral, last year, Scottish authorities claimed that Rockall was a UK territory and attempted to prevent Irish fishermen from coming within the 12-mile international limit.
The Irish government, on the other hand, contended that the island was not subject to an international boundary as it was simply a large, uninhabitable rock in the middle of the ocean.
Irish claims are backed up by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) 1982.
The law states that “rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf”.
Consequently, Irish boats have fished in the area for well over 30 years.
The Scottish Government, in turn, claimed that it has never been legal for other nations to fish within 12 miles of the islet.
The UK first claimed ownership of Rockall in 1955, but Ireland, Iceland, and Denmark have long challenged that ownership.
Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney took a firm stance on the issue in June last year and said that Ireland had never recognised British claims to the island.
He said: “We have never recognised UK sovereignty over Rockall and accordingly, we have not recognised a territorial sea around it either. We have tried to work positively with the Scottish authorities and to deal with sensitive issues that flow from it in a spirit of kinship and collaboration.”
Scotland’s Fisheries Minister Fergus Ewing told BBC Scotland at the time: “This is a routine enforcement matter to ensure that illegal activity within the UK’s territorial waters, namely within a radius of 12 miles of the islet of Rockall, ceases.
“We have been engaging with the Irish government for a considerable length of time because we would prefer that this matter is resolved by discussion and negotiation amicably, and that remains the case.”
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