"There can be no checks anywhere on the island of Ireland" - SF leader tells Taoiseach

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has urged the Taoiseach not to accept any checks on the island of Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit. 

Ms McDonald said: "We are very concerned to hear the Taoiseach think out loud and to concede the point that there might be checks anywhere on the island of Ireland," Ms McDonald said.

"There can't be any check anywhere on the island of Ireland. That's entirely unacceptable. It would be an act of absolute political vandalism and wherever these checks might be located it would represent a serious breach of the Good Friday Agreement," she told RTÉ.

Ms McDonald said the Government had to prepare for the ultimate removal of the border following a no-deal Brexit.

"Europe has stated categorically there is a way back into the European Union for the North in the event of re-unification," she said.

She added that if the Conservatives could not reconcile themselves to the Backstop and there is a no-deal Brexit, "we are straight into the terrain of preparation to remove the border.

"We cannot envisage a re-partition of Ireland almost a century on," she said.