Dublin enrages Downing Street by comparing Irish hard border to BERLIN WALL in Brexit slur

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney made the comparison on a visit to Berlin as the EU started to ratchet up the rhetoric ahead of a crunch leaders’ summit which is due to take place in ten days.

While visiting the site of the former Berlin Wall, Mr Coveney said the Germans understood how important it is to reject “barriers, checks and fences”.

And he said he had no plan to be part of a government that allows them to be built on “my island”.

Enraged Britons were quick to point out Ireland and Brussels have not yet publicly promised not to place a hard border in Northern Ireland.

A Downing Street source said: “The UK Government is publicly committed to no hard border under any circumstances.

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Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney cause outrage last night over the comparison

The UK Government is publicly committed to no hard border under any circumstances.

A Downing Street source

“We are the ones that have made clear there will be no hard border, even in a no deal scenario. There has been no such commitment from the Irish or the EU.”

Mr Coveney’s comments come in light of a report from a university study which displays growing concern over the Irish border in the event of a hard Brexit.

The report by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast on the views of residents living on both sides of the border indicated that half are opposed to a technological solution to custom checks.

Technology is an option being considered by the government as part of EU withdrawal negotiations.

Some Conservative MPs who support Brexit are strongly against a customs partnership, the other possibility.

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Technological solutions and a customs partnership are being considered as a solution

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A report from a Queen's University Belfast study shows growing concern over the Irish border

The UK and the EU have also had discussions on the issue of a post-Brexit “backstop” plan for the border, which is hoped would avoid border checks if the pair have not finalised a new trade relationship by December 2020, when the transition period is due to end.

Dr Katy Hayward, who authored the report said: "The Brexit negotiators' commitment to avoiding a hard border is not just about minimising the risk of renewed paramilitary violence.

"The voices heard in this study point to a different aspect of the same concern - the need to protect peace."

European leaders will gather at a European Council summit in Brussels later in June to discuss developments on post-Brexit trade talks.

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