Ireland won’t accept checks on Irish goods at EU ports – FM

Ireland will not allow its desire to keep the Irish border open if Britain leaves the EU without a deal to result in checks on Irish goods at ports on the European mainland, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said. “We have to find a way of ensuring that we protect the single market’s integrity and that we avoid physical infrastructure” on the Irish border, Coveney told parliament on Tuesday. The minister was referring to meetings that had begun at official level with the European Commission on how to manage the border in a no-deal Brexit, Reuters said. “Ireland is not going to allow a situation where the UK leaving the EU without a deal drags Ireland out of the single market with it,” according to Coveney.