Border checks are still possible

Leading EU official Pierre Moscovici has warned that potentially damaging customs checks may still be imposed at Irish ports and airports, when Brexit takes place in two years’ time.

And at a lunch meeting in Downing Street today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will tell British prime minister Theresa May that a “satisfactory” soft-border solution has not yet been provided.

Speaking on Newstalk radio, yesterday, Mr Moscovici, European commissioner for taxation and customs, said he does not want a hard border between the Republic and the North.

However, asked about EU customs checks at Irish ports and airports, he said “we’ll see”, noting that Britain has failed to provide an alternative.

“Madame May pronounced, recently, an important speech that needs to be translated in concrete proposals and I cannot offer you a road-map,” he said.

“But the only thing I can say is that we are really watching this question of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.”

The comment — striking a distinctly different tone to that of the European parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, who, during a Dáil visit last week, pledged financial support to Ireland if Brexit takes place — comes as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar prepares to meet Ms May in London this afternoon.

Last night, a Government spokesperson said Mr Varadkar will use the meeting — taking place as he leads a delegation to highlight Ireland’s Rugby World Cup 2023 bid — to repeat his “cautious welcome for elements” of Ms May’s speech in Florence last Friday, while “repeating concern a clear and satisfactory solution on the border has not yet been presented”.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Brendan Howlin will use his speech at the British Labour party’s annual conference to urge his UK counterparts to “go further” in pushing for a soft Brexit solution.

Mr Howling will also say that Sinn Féin should take up their seats in Westminster as a once-off during any Brexit vote.