Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons said at the weekend in an interview that the Nationality and Borders Bill currently being debated in the UK parliament has the potential to place unhelpful complications in the way of visitation by foreign tourists to Northern Ireland via the Republic of Ireland.

The Bill is intended to discourage non-citizens from entering the UK to seek asylum through "irregular means" - particularly, by crossing the English Channel from France in small boats.

The Bill would require any person not a citizen of the UK or Ireland wishing to enter NI from Ireland to complete, submit and have approved by the UK government a visa waiver to be known as an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) form.

Understandably, the Government of Ireland strongly opposes the plan, since 2 out of 3 visitors from the EU and North America have traditionally visited both the Republic and NI, many via organized tours that offer itineraries throughout the Island of Ireland.

It's not clear if, should the Bill pass in its current form, execution and enforcement would be able to be put into place for summer 2022. Stay tuned for updates.